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LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


PRESENTED  BY 

Mr.    Kenneth  McKenzie 


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LECTURES  UN0V  4  1941 


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THE    HISTORY 


FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 


ALEXANDER  McKENZIE, 

PASTOR   OF   THE    FIRST   CHURCH    IN    CAMBRIDGE   AND    SHEPARD 
CONGREGATIONAL    SOCIETY. 


BOSTON: 
CONGREGATIONAL    PUBLISHING    SOCIETY. 

1873. 


University  Press  :  Welch,  Bigelow,  &  Co., 
Cambridge. 


PREFACE. 


THE  materials  for  these  lectures  have  been  found 
in  part  in  various  histories  which  treat  of  the 
different  periods  and  events,  and  in  part  in  the  records 
of  the  church.  I  have  freely  introduced  collateral  mat- 
ters whenever  they  explained  the  position  or  action  of 
the  church. 

The  first  lecture  was  delivered  December  18,  1870, 
and  the  last  April  14,  1872.  This  will  account  for 
some  repetitions  which  would  have  been  out  of  place 
in  an  ordinary  history. 

I  am  indebted  to  Eev.  John  L.  Sibley  of  the  Univer- 
sity Library  for  advance  sheets  of  his  Memoirs  of 
the  Graduates  of  Harvard  College,  and  for  advice  from 
time  to  time.  I  wish  also  to  acknowledge  the  con- 
tinual encouragement  I  have  received  from  my  own 
parishioners,  and  especially  from  William  A.  Saunders, 
Esq.,  whose  interest  in  our  personal  and  local  history 
has  been  of  the  greatest  service  to  me.     As  this  book 


iv  PREFACE. 

is  now  to  be  given  to  the  public,  I  desire  to  dedicate 
its  pages  to  those  who  in  their  turn  constitute  the 
First  Church  in  Cambridge  and  the  Shepard  Congre- 
gational Society. 

ALEXANDEE   McKENZIE. 
Cambridge,  1872. 


FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 


LECTURE    I. 

"  We  have  heard  with  our  ears,  0  God,  our  fathers  have  told 
us,  what  work  thou  didst  in  their  days,  in  the  times  of  old."  — 
Psalm  xliv.  1. 

IT  is  in  the  order  of  nature  and  Providence,  that  one 
generation  shall  praise  the  works  of  the  Lord  to 
another,  and  shall  declare  his  mighty  acts.  He  teaches 
men  by  men,  using  them  to  illustrate  his  character  and 
will,  to  announce  his  purposes,  to  glorify  his  name. 
Holy  men  of  God,  speaking  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  have  given  much  of  their  teaching 
to  the  world  by  relating  the  history  of  men  and  nations. 
Inasmuch  as  the  Lord  changes  not,  and  men  are  of  one 
blood,  the  story  of  any  human  life,  whenever,  wherever 
its  course  may  have  run,  is  instructive  to  those  who 
shall  hear  it.  Not  those  alone  who  have  found  men- 
tion in  sacred  history,  but  others,  in  every  age  of  the 
world,  can  teach  us  out  of  their  experience,  and  reveal 
to  us  the  ways  of  God  with  man.  If  it  be  true  in 
other  lands  that  the  fathers  can  instruct  the  children, 
and  that  the  lives  of  the  fathers  deserve  the  devout 
study  of  the  children,  surely  here,  in  a  land  sought  out 
in  the  name  of  God,  and  consecrated  to  his  service  at 
the  beginning,  by  men  who  for  love  of  him  and  of  his 
1 


2  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

truth  made  themselves  homes  in  the  wilderness,  and 
built  up  churches  and  schools  and  the  institutions  of 
free  government,  with  his  Word  for  their  guide,  his 
commandments  for  their  statutes,  his  goodness  for  their 
comfort  and  strength,  —  surely  here  we  must  inquire 
concerning  the  former  times,  that  we  may  know  our 
place  and  duty,  may  preserve  the  memories  and  vir- 
tues of  those  into  whose  labors  we  have  entered,  may 
honor  him  who  by  his  right  hand  and  his  arm  and  the 
light  of  his  countenance  gave  them  the  land  in  posses- 
sion, because  he  had  a  favor  unto  them. 

We  are  following  the  Divine  method  when  we  trace 
out  the  history  of  this  ancient  church,  remembering  the 
days  of  old,  considering  the  years  of  many  generations, 
asking  our  fathers  that  they  may  show  us,  our  elders 
that  they  may  tell  us.  From  the  tale  which  they  have 
written,  which  has  remained  after  their  hands  have  be- 
come still,  we  are  able  to  tell  again  what  work  the  Lord 
did  in  their  days,  and  by  what  men  he  gave  to  us  the 
inheritance  for  which  we  bless  him.  The  fathers  of 
our  land,  of  our  church,  were  Englishmen.  The  spirit 
which  compelled  them  to  abandon  the  land  which  had 
given  them  birth,  and  the  church  in  which  they  had 
been  reared,  belonged  to  the  manliness  of  England's 
better  days.  They  wanted  purity  and  liberty  in  state 
and  church.  Willing  to  submit  to  all  rightful  author- 
ity, they  could  not  consent  to  a  tyranny  which  was  both 
grievous  and  perilous,  to  oppression  which  burdened  the 
conscience  and  blighted  the  life.  They  asked  for  other 
things  for  themselves  and  their  children.  They  asked 
in  vain.  Some  went  out  from  the  national  church  to 
secure  by  themselves  what  they  must  have  at  any  cost. 
Separation  dates  from  1567.     Scorned,  hunted,  afflicted 


LECTURE  I.  3 

in  many  ways,  these  little  bands  of  Separatists  suffered, 
and  kept  the  freedom  and  the  faith.  One  of  these  new 
churches,  founded  after  the  Apostolic  model  in  the  year 
1606,  in  the  village  of  Scroohy,  in  Nottinghamshire, 
tarried  for  twelve  years  in  Holland,  then  crossed  the 
seas,  and  at  Plymouth  became  the  first  church  in  New 
England ;  for  nine  years  the  only  Protestant  Church  in 
the  Western  World,  unless  there  were  some  remains  of 
an  ecclesiastical  organization  in  the  almost  forsaken 
colony  of  Virginia.  But  many  who  were  greatly  dis- 
contented with  the  Church  of  England  were  not  willing 
to  become  Separatists,  but  sought  to  find  within  its  fold 
the  freedom  and  purity  they  desired.  These  were  the 
Puritans,  as  their  enemies  called  them  in  derision.  It 
became  plain  to  many  of  these,  at  last,  that  the  hope  of 
reformation  was  vain,  and  that  the  liberty  sought  could 
only  be  found  in  another  land.  They  turned  their  eyes 
westward.  Colonization  in  New  England  was  much 
discussed  among  the  Puritans.  A  company  known  as 
the  "  Dorchester  Adventurers"  came  over  in  1624,  and 
two  years  later  settled  down  in  Naumkeag.  In  1629  a 
royal  charter  created  a  corporation  under  the  name  of 
the  "  Governor  and  Company  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
in  New  England."  Under  this  charter  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts  conducted  its  affairs  for  fifty-five  years. 
The  charter  said  nothing  of  religious  liberty.  Great 
accessions  were  made  to  the  settlement  at  Naumkeag, 
which  was  changed  to  Salem,  and  in  this  year  (1629) 
the  second  church  on  these  shores  was  organized.  It  is 
clear  that  these  settlers  at  Salem  had  no  intention  of 
separating  themselves  from  the  English  Church  when 
they  gave  up  their  home.  But  the  formation  of  a  new 
church  came  about  naturally,  providentially.     There  was 


4  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

much  sickness  among  the  colonists,  and  Samuel  Fuller, 
the  Plymouth  physician,  was  called  to  their  aid.  He 
was  a  deacon  as  well  as  a  doctor,  and,  besides  caring  for 
the  physical  wants  of  the  sick,  gave  the  new-comers 
information  concerning  the  church  at  Plymouth.  His 
account  of  things  in  the  older  settlement  was  instructive 
to  those  who  had  heard  a  far  different  report  of  their 
Separatist  neighbors.  Governor  Endicott  of  Salem  wrote 
to  Governor  Bradford  of  Plymouth  acknowledging  his 
love  and  care  in  sending  Dr.  Puller,  and  added,  "  I  re- 
joice much  that  I  am  by  him  satisfied  touching  your 
judgment  of  the  outward  form  of  God's  worship."  The 
Salem  colonists  proceeded  to  organize  a  church.  There 
were  with  them  two  nonconformist  clergymen  of  the 
Church  of  England,  both  men  eminent  for  virtue  and 
learning,  and  these  were  chosen  to  the  chief  offices. 
Mr.  Samuel  Skelton  was  chosen  pastor,  and  Mr.  Francis 
Higginson,  teacher.  Mr.  Higginson,  at  the  request  of  his 
brethren,  drew  up  a  "  Confession  of  Faith  and  Cove- 
nant." On  a  set  day,  with  preaching  and  praying  and 
fasting,  thirty  persons  assented  to  the  Declaration  which 
had  been  prepared ;  and,  after  thus  constituting  them- 
selves a  church,  ordained  their  pastor  and  teacher  with 
the  laying  on  of  hands.  In  their  proceedings  they 
sought  the  fellowship  and  counsel  of  the  Plymouth 
church,  which  was  represented  by  Governor  Bradford 
and  others,  who  were  so  long  hindered  by  cross-winds 
that  they  came  in  too  late  for  the  earlier  services  of  the 
day,  but  were  in  season  to  extend  the  right  hand  of  fel- 
lowship, and  to  give  to  their  brethren  their  blessing  and 
good  wishes.  These  Salem  Puritans  builded  larger  and 
better  than  they  thought.  Accused  of  being  Separatists, 
the  ministers  replied, "  that  they  did  not  separate  from  the 


LECTURE  I.  5 

Church  of  England,  nor  from  the  ordinances  of  God  there, 
but  only  from  the  corruptions  and  disorders  there  ;  and 
that  they  came  away  from  the  cumbersome  prayers  and 
ceremonies,  and  had  suffered  much  from  nonconformity 
in  their  native  land,  and  therefore,  being  in  a  place  where 
they  might  have  their  liberty,  they  neither  could  nor 
would  use  them,  because  they  judged  the  imposition 
of  these  things  to  be  sinful  corruptions  in  the  worship  of 
God.  The  Governor  and  Council,  and  the  generality  of 
the  people,  did  well  approve  of  the  ministers'  answer." 

But  this  was,  in  fact,  separation  from  the  English 
Church,  and  their  other  proceedings  were  independent 
of  her  usage  and  her  authority.  The  ministers  who 
had  received  Episcopal  ordination  were  ordained  by 
their  own  church  to  the  particular  care  of  that  church. 
Elders  and  deacons  were  also  chosen  and  ordained  by 
the  church. 

This  was  building  on  the  ancient  foundation.  These 
men  had  learned  something  in  their  days  of  trial  at 
home,  something  in  the  study  and  meditation  of  their 
long  voyage,  with  the  Bible  to  teach  them  the  ways  of 
the  primitive  churches.  In  a  new  land,  filled  with  a  free 
spirit,  glorying  in  the  liberty  wherewith  they  had  been 
made  free,  encouraged  by  the  example  and  counsel  of 
the  Pilgrims,  it  is  not  strange  that  they  went  back  to 
the  former  simplicity,  and  built  upon  the  foundation  of 
apostles  and  prophets,  with  Jesus  Christ  himself  for  the 
chief  corner-stone. 

I  have  dwelt  upon  this  procedure,  because  it  was  the 
first  instance  in  which  Puritans,  not  Separatists,  formed 
a  Congregational  Church.  Other  churches  followed  in 
Charlestown,  Dorchester,  Boston,  Eoxbury,  Lynn,  Water- 
town.     With  Congregational  churches  at  the  basis  of 


6  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

civil  society,  a  Eepublican  form  of  government  for  the 
State  was  inevitable.  These  earliest  churches  were  a 
prophecy  of  the  Nation.  We  come  now  to  Cambridge. 
It  was  at  first  designed  to  build  here  a  fortified  town, 
and  to  make  it  the  capital  of  the  Province.  The  ground 
was  laid  out,  the  lines  of  the  fortification  drawn,  the 
streets  arranged  at  right  angles.  Some  idea  of  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  place  may  be  derived  from  such  names  as 
Market  Square,  Creek  Street,  Water  Street,  Crooked 
Street,  Spring  Street,  Long  Street,  Marsh  Lane.  Gov- 
ernor Winthrop  set  up  the  frame  of  a  dwelling-house 
on  the  spot  where  he  first  pitched  his  tent.  The  Deputy- 
Governor,  Dudley,  completed  a  house  and  moved  his 
family  into  it.  Other  gentlemen  of  high  standing  pre- 
pared to  reside  here.  The  place  received  the  appro- 
priate designation  of  Newtown. 

As  the  relations  with  the  Indians  became  more  settled, 
it  was  thought  that  the  neighboring  peninsula  offered 
superior  advantages  for  the  capital,  and  it  was  accord- 
ingly established  in  Boston.  The  removal  of  Winthrop's 
house  to  Boston  greatly  offended  Dudley,  and  "  the 
ministers,  for  an  end  of  the  difference,  ordered  that  the 
governor  should  procure  them  a  minister  at  Newtown, 
and  contribute  some  toward  his  maintenance  for  a  time," 
or  else  make  Dudley  a  suitable  recompense.  It  was  in 
1631  that  the  plan  for  Newtown  was  changed.  There 
seems  still  to  have  remained  some  thought  that  this 
place  might  become  the  metropolis,  and  it  received  legis- 
lative patronage.  In  1632  the  Court  of  Assistants 
levied  an  assessment  upon  the  several  plantations  "  to- 
wards making  a  palisade  about  the  new  town."  A 
writer  who  was  here  at  this  time  thus  describes  the 
place  :  "  This  is  one  of  the  neatest  and  best-compacted 


LECTURE  1.  7 

towns  in  New  England,  having  many  fair  structures, 
with  many  handsome  contrived  streets.  The  inhabi- 
tants, most  of  them,  are  very  rich."  In  some  of  the 
earliest  years  the  annual  election  of  the  governor  and 
magistrates  was  held  here,  when  the  people  assembled 
under  an  oak  which  stood  upon  the  northerly  side  of  our 
Common.  In  this  year  (1632)  the  town  received  a  con- 
siderable addition  to  its  numbers  by  the  arrival  of  the 
Braintree  Company,  as  it  was  called,  better  known  to 
us  as  Mr.  Hooker's  Company.  Thomas  Hooker  was  a 
graduate  and  Fellow  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge, 
England,  where  he  displayed  great  ability  and  fidelity. 
After  leaving  college  he  preached  with  acceptance  and 
success.  In  1630  he  was  silenced  for  nonconformity, 
to  the  great  regret  of  many  of  the  clergy  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  He  taught  school  for  a  time,  having 
John  Eliot,  afterwards  the  apostle  to  the  Indians,  as  an 
usher.  It  was  while  in  the  family  of  Hooker  that  Eliot 
was  converted,  and  under  his  influence  that  he  decided 
to  devote  himself  to  the  Christian  ministry.  Besides 
being  silenced,  Hooker  was  put  under  bonds  to  appear 
before  the  High  Commission  Court.  His  bond  was 
paid  by  a  friend,  and  he  remained  for  a  short  time  in 
retirement,  and  then  crossed  to  Holland,  where  he  re- 
mained for  three  years.  Meanwhile  the  emigration  of 
the  Puritans  to  this  country  was  going  forward,  and 
many  of  Hooker's  friends  came  over.  There  were  about 
two  hundred  emigrants  in  one  company.  Many  of  these 
settled  in  Newtown,  where  they  erected  a  meeting-house 
preparatory  to  the  full  establishment  of  the  ordinances 
of  religion.  Having  enjoyed  Mr.  Hooker's  ministry  in 
other  days,  they  desired  to  have  him  accompany  them, 
which  he  was  unable  to  do.     But  returning  to  England, 


8  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

and  with  great  difficulty  escaping  from  his  enemies,  in 
the  midsummer  of  1633  he  sailed  for  New  England,  in 
company  with  John  Cotton  and  Samuel  Stone.  A  pas- 
sage of  six  or  seven  weeks  brought  them  to  Boston. 
The  voyage  was  enlivened  with  three  sermons  or  expo- 
sitions on  almost  every  day ;  and  also  with  the  birth 
of  a  son  to  Mr.  Cotton,  who  at  his  baptism  was  called 
Seaborn. 

The  people  could  hardly  fail  to  play  upon  the  names 
of  the  ministers,  and  liked  to  say,  merrily,  "  that  their 
three  great  necessities  would  now  be  supplied ;  for  they 
had  Cotton  for  their  clothing,  Hooker  for  their  fishing, 
and  Stone  for  their  building." 

A  Church  was  organized  at  Newtown,  and  with  fast- 
ing and  prayer  Mr.  Hooker  was  chosen  pastor,  and  Mr. 
Stone  teacher.  Both  had  received  ordination  in  Eng- 
land, but  were  again  ordained  by  their  own  church  to 
the  offices  to  which  they  Avere  elected,  in  the  presence 
of  "neighbor  ministers,"  who  gave  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship.  What  their  meeting-house  was  we  are  not 
told.  In  the  year  of  its  erection  the  first  house  of 
worship  in  Boston  was  built.  That  had  mud  walls  and 
a  thatched  roof.  Into  that  house  came  John  Cotton  from 
St.  Botolph's  Church  in  Boston,  England,  one  of  the 
most  stately  parish  churches  in  •  the  land,  and  able  to 
contain  five  thousand  people.  It  was  a  change,  from 
the  lofty  cathedral  tower  to  the  low  door  of  the  New 
England  meeting-house.  It  was  more  than  balanced  by 
the  joy  of  preaching  the  gospel,  a  free  man  to  free  men. 
But  to  guard  against  fire,  it  had  been  ordered  in  the  pre- 
vious year  that  in  Newtown  no  man  should  "  build  his 
chimney  of  wood,  nor  cover  his  house  with  thatch."  It 
is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  house  here  was  of  logs. 


LECTURE  1.  9 

Many  years  after  its  erection  a  vote  was  passed  in  Town 
Meeting  that  the  church  should  be  repaired  "  with  a  4 
square  roofe,  and  covered  with  shingle."  This  house 
stood  on  the  west  side  of  Water,  now  Dunster  Street, 
a  little  south  of  Spring,  now  Mount  Auburn  Street. 
It  is  particularly  recorded  that  the  house  had  a  bell 
upon  it.  It  must  have  been  a  small,  plain  structure. 
The  plainness  of  the  early  churches  was  in  part  a  neces- 
sity, and  in  part  an  intentional  departure  from  the  archi- 
tecture which  had  been  left.  The  colonists  built  for 
use.  They  needed  a  house  to  meet  in,  and  one  which 
would  answer  this  purpose  made  them  quite  content. 
They  gave  it  a  name  which  clearly  explained  its  use, 
and  called  it  the  meeting-house.  It  was  used  for  the 
general  gathering  of  the  people.  In  many  cases  it  was 
furnished  with  means  of  defence  against  the  Indians. 

In  a  few  months  the  people  of  Newtown  complained 
that  they  were  straitened  for  want  of  room.  They 
asked  of  the  General  Court  leave  "  to  look  out  either 
for  enlargement  or  removal,"  which  was  granted.  At 
the  next  meeting  they  asked  leave  to  remove  to  Con- 
necticut. They  said  that  there  was  not  land  enough, 
especially  meadow,  so  that  they  could  not  maintain 
their  ministers,  nor  receive  more  inhabitants.  Mr. 
Hooker  said  that  it  was  an  error  that  towns  were  set 
so  near  together.  By  removing,  as  they  proposed,  they 
would  get  more  room,  and  keep  out  other  settlers  from 
the  place  they  should  possess.  It  has  been  conjectured 
that  there  were  certain  personal  jealousies  between  the 
leading  men  in  Boston  and  Newtown,  which  made 
a  separation  desirable.  But  this  cannot  be  proved. 
Strong  objection  to  the  removal  was  made,  and  the 
matter  was  found  difficult  of  adjustment.     After  the 


10  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

excellent  custom  of  the  time,  the  whole  Court  agreed  to 
lay  the  question  before  the  Lord,  and  a  Fast  Day  was 
kept  in  all  the  congregations.  When  the  Court  as- 
sembled again  Mr.  Cotton  preached  from  Haggai  ii.  4, 
upon  the  relations  of  the  magistracy,  the  ministry,  and 
the  people.  The  fasting  and  preaching  seemed  to  have 
a  good  effect,  as  the  Newtown  congregation  "  accepted 
of  such  enlargement  as  had  formerly  been  offered  them 
by  Boston  and  Watertown,  and  so  the  fear  of  their 
removal  to  Connecticut  was  removed."  But  the  result 
was  only  temporary ;  the  desire  to  remove  continued. 
At  last  leave  was  granted,  and  in  the  summer  of  1636 
Mr.  Hooker's  church  and  congregation,  a  hundred  in 
number,  with  great  difficulty  made  their  journey  of 
above  a  hundred  miles,  travelling  by  the  compass, 
through  a  trackless  wilderness,  driving  their  cattle  with 
them.  Mrs.  Hooker,  being  in  feeble  health,  was  carried 
in  a  horse-litter.  The  company  formed  a  settlement  in 
Connecticut,  where  some  preparation  had  already  been 
made,  and  called  the  place  Hartford,  after  the  birth- 
place of  Mr.  Stone.  Mr.  Hooker  was  at  Newtown  less 
than  three  years,  but  he  distinguished  himself  as  a 
preacher  and  counsellor,  and  was  an  efficient  man  in 
the  affairs  of  both  church  and  state.  After  his  removal 
he  was  connected  with  many  important  movements 
through  the  New  England  colonies.  He  was  one  of  the 
moderators  of  the  Synod  held  at  Cambridge  in  regard 
to  Anne  Hutchinson.  He  was  invited  to  be  a  member 
of  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines  which  formed 
the  famous  Catechisms.  He  left  at  his  death  a  goodly 
number  of  printed  works.  He  died  in  1647,  at  the  age 
of  sixty=one.  Some  one  standing  in  tears  by  his  bed- 
side said,  "  Sir,  you  are  going  to  receive  the  reward  of 


LECTURE  I.  11 

all  your  labors."  He  replied,  "  Brother,  I  am  going  to 
receive  mercy."  John  Cotton  honored  his  memory 
with  elegiac  lines  of  which  I  give  the  first  two  stanzas : 

"  To  see  three  things  was  holy  Austin's  wish,  — 
Rome  in  her  flower,  Christ  Jesus  in  the  flesh, 
And  Paul  i'  the  pulpit  :  lately  men  might  see 
Two  first,  and  more,  in  Hooker's  ministry. 

' '  Zion  in  beauty  is  a  fairer  sight 
Than  Rome  in  flower,  with  all  her  glory  dight ; 
Yet  Zion's  beauty  did  most  clearly  shine 
In  Hooker's  rule  and  doctrine,  both  divine." 

With  this  we  come  to  our  own  church.  There  were 
those  who  had  more  recently  come  out  from  England 
who  stood  ready  to  purchase  the  meeting-house  and 
dwelling-houses  and  other  immovable  property  which 
Hooker's  company  desired  to  leave,  and  these  things 
were  accordingly  transferred  to  them.  It  was  not  their 
design  to  remain  here  permanently,  but  here  they 
stayed.  Here  their  successors  wrorship,  even  in  this 
house.  We  must  read  again  the  story  of  their  leader, 
whose  name  is  preserved  in  connection  with  the  church. 
I  shall  give  you  this  story  somewhat  in  detail  be- 
cause of  its  historical  value,  as  showing  the  position 
of  the  Puritans  at  that  time,  and  the  causes  which 
drove  them  across  the  seas.  Thomas  Shepard  was 
more  than  a  founder,  for  he  shaped  the  beginnings  of 
the  church  and  gave  it  a  character,  a  strength  and 
beauty,  which  have  endured,  and  shall  stand  through 
the  long  future.  If  we  study  the  character  of  the  man, 
or  survey  his  works,  we  admire  him,  and  give  him 
praise  for  that  he  wrought  out.  I  would  that  we  all 
were  familiar  with  his  life  and  with  his  works.  His 
written  words  should  be  in  every  house,  that  he  may 


12  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

still  teach  in  a  perpetual  pastorate.  I  have  in  my  care, 
as  his  successor,  a  small  book,  some  five  inches  long, 
which  contains  in  his  own  handwriting  the  Biography 
and  Diary  of  Thomas  Shepard,  and  a  few  pecuniary 
accounts.  He  lives,  therefore,  in  his  own  record  of  his 
life.  An  excellent  Memoir  of  Shepard,  with  a  brief  but 
instructive  account  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  was 
written  by  the  late  lamented  pastor  of  this  church,  and 
is  now  in  our  Sabbath  School  Library. 

The  year  1605  was  marked  in  England  by  the  in- 
famous plot  to  destroy  the  King  and  Parliament.  On 
the  5th  of  November,  the  day  when  the  plot  was  dis- 
covered, "  and  that  very  hour  wherein  the  Parliament 
should  have  been  blown  up,"  there  was  born  in  Tow- 
cester,  in  Northamptonshire,  a  child  who  was  named 
Thomas,  after  the  doubting  disciple,  because  the  father 
thought  his  son  would  hardly  believe  that  "  ever  any 
such  wickedness  should  be  attempted  by  men  against 
so  religious  and  good  a  Parliament."  William  Shepard, 
the  father,  was  a  prosperous  grocer,  a  wise  and  prudent 
man,  and  "  toward  his  latter  end  much  blessed  of  God 
in  his  estate  and  in  his  soul."  So  earnest  was  he  in  his 
love  of  the  truth,  that  he  removed  from  a  town  where 
there  was  no  good  ministry,  that  he  might  be  under  the 
stirring  preaching  which  the  Puritans  offered.  The 
mother  died  when  Thomas  was  about  four  years  old, 
when  the  father  married  again.  He  died  when  the  son 
was  about  ten  years  of  age.  The  childhood  of  the  boy 
was  unpromising.  He  was  sent  when  very  young 
to  his  grandparents,  where  he  was  surrounded  with 
ignorance,  and  much  neglected.  He  was  then  sent  to 
his  uncle,  who  lived  in  "  a  little  blind  town,"  where  he 
was  more  content,  and  learned  the  corrupting  sports  of 


LECTURE  I.  13 

the  youth  of  that  day.     On  his  return  home  his  step- 
mother treated  him  harshly,  and  his  father  sent  him  to 
a  free  school  in  Towcester,  kept  by  a  Welshman,  who 
was  exceedingly  cruel  towards  him,  so  that  the  boy  was 
wholly  discouraged  from  desire  of  learning,  and  often 
wished  he  was  a  keeper  of  beasts  instead  of  a  school- 
boy.    But  upon  the  death  of  his  father  he  was  taken  ' 
by  his  brother,  who  agreed  to  bring  him  up  for  the  use 
of  his  portion  of  £100,  and  who  was  faithful  to  his 
trust,  being  both  father  and  mother  to  the  orphan  boy. 
He  had  prayed  heartily  for  his  father's  life  while  he 
was  sick,  and  promised  to  serve  God  better  if  his  prayer 
should  be   granted.      His   religious   impressions  were 
therefore  early.     He  came  under  the  care  of  a  better 
teacher,  who  gave  him  a  desire  to  be  a  scholar,  and  at 
fourteen  he  was  admitted  a  pensioner  at  Emmanuel  Col- 
lege, though  "  very  raw  and  young."     He  was  studious 
in  college,  and  became  proud  of  his  attainments.     But 
he  lived  in  neglect  of  God  and  private  prayer.     There 
were  times  when  his  heart  was  touched,  but  he  resisted 
all   good    influences,  and  fell  into  bad   company,  and 
even  became  intoxicated  once  or   twice.      Shame  and 
remorse    followed    his    indulgence.        The    searching 
preaching  of  Dr.  Preston,  Master  of  the  College,  gave 
him  knowledge  of  himself,  and  he  determined  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come  and  to  lay  hold  upon  eternal 
life.     He  found  the  way  hard  and  long.     Doubts  and 
questionings  assailed  him.     His  struggle  was  severe  and 
protracted.     But  he  prevailed,  and  at  last  he  found  rest. 
"  The  Lord  gave  me  a  heart  to  receive  Christ,  with  a 
naked  hand  even  a  naked  Christ,  and  so  he  gave  me 
peace."     The  God  of  his  father  and  mother  remembered 
the  youth,  and  he  was  blessed  according  to  their  desire. 


14  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

The  covenant  which  parental  faith  had  made  and  sealed 
brought  its  blessing  to  the  favored  child.  He  left  col- 
lege with  a  high  reputation  for  scholarship,  and  with 
the  usual  honors  of  the  University.  He  was  unde- 
cided what  to  do  next.  In  the  religious  condition  of 
England,  his  way  was  much  hedged  up.  He  came 
for  a  time  under  the  ministry  of  Thomas  Hooker,  which 
he  found  profitable.  There  was  a  plan  in  those  days 
for  supplying  with  preachers  parts  of  the  country 
which  were  without  a  proper  ministry.  The  Puritans 
raised  a  fund  for  this  purpose,  and  the  men  who  were 
appointed  were  called  Lecturers.  They  were  not  to 
remain  in  any  place,  upon  this  foundation,  for  more 
than  three  years.  Thomas  Shepard  was  appointed  a 
Lecturer,  and  received  Deacon's  orders  in  the  English 
Church,  "sinfully,"  he  afterwards  thought.  He  was 
sent  to  the  town  of  Earles-Colne,  where,  so  far  as  he 
could  find,  there  was  but  one  man  who  had  any  god- 
liness. But  his  earnest  labors  were  widely  blessed, 
especially  to  the  chief  house  of  the  town,  where  he  won 
to  the  Lord  and  to  himself  his  steadfast  friend  Roger 
Harlakenden,  whose  mortal  part  now  lies  in  yonder  bury- 
ing-ground.  Then  "  Satan  began  to  rage,  and  the  com- 
missaries, registers,  and  others  to  pursue  him  as  thinking 
he  was  a  nonconformable  man,  when  for  the  most  of  that 
time  he  was  not  resolved  either  way."  He  stood  on 
the  original  Puritan  ground,  loving  the  Established 
Church,  reluctant  to  leave  it,  willing  to  conform  to  its 
rules  and  customs  in  many  things,  unwilling  to  conform 
in  others.  Being  such  a  man  as  he  was,  and  the  tem- 
per of  the  rulers  what  it  was,  the  result  could  hardly  be 
other  than  separation,  gradual  at  first,  but  complete  at 
last.     He  was  busy  at  this  time  with  what  seemed  to 


LECTURE  I.  15 

him  weightier  matters  than  forms  and  ceremonies.  "  The 
course  I  took  in  my  preaching  was,  first,  to  show  the 
people  their  misery.  Second,  the  remedy,  Christ  Jesus. 
Third,  how  they  should  walk  answerahle  to  his  mercy 
being  redeemed  by  Christ."  He  finished  his  three 
years,  and  remained  about  half  a  year  longer,  at  the 
request  and  charge  of  the  people,  when  Laud,  Bishop  of 
London,  summoned  him  to  answer  for  preaching  in  his 
diocese.  The  Bishop  was  in  a  rage,  and  "  looked  as 
though  blood  would  have  gushed  out  of  his  face,  and 
did  shake  as  if  he  had  been  haunted  with  an  ague-fit." 
At  the  request  of  Shepard  that  he  would  excuse  him, 
the  Bishop  railed  upon  him.  "  You  prating  coxcomb,  do 
you  think  all  the  learning  is  in  your  brain  ? "  At  last  the 
sentence  came.  "  I  charge  you  that  you  neither  preach, 
read,  marry,  bury,  or  exercise  any  ministerial  functions 
in  any  part  of  my  diocese  ;  for  if  you  do,  and  I  hear  of 
it,  I  '11  be  upon  your  back  and  follow  you  wherever  you 
go,  in  any  part  of  this  kingdom,  and  so  everlastingly 
disenable  you."  Shepard  asked  mercy  for  the  poor 
town,  and  prayed  that  he  might  catechise  on  Sabbath 
afternoons.  The  Bishop  answered,  "  Spare  your  breath  ; 
I  '11  have  no  such  fellows  prate  in  my  diocese.  Get 
you  gone,  and  make  your  complaints  to  whom  you 
will ! "  "  So  away  I  went,  —  and  blessed  be  God  that  I 
may  go  to  him."  The  wrath  of  man  praises  God :  the 
rage  of  Laud  gave  this  church  of  ours  its  first  minister. 
Not  just  then.  Shepard  was  silenced  there.  "  I  did  think 
it  was  for  my  sins  the  Lord  did  set  him  thus  against 
me."  Samuel  Stone,  who  preceded  him  in  the  ministry 
here,  received,  by  Shepard's  proposal,  the  Lectureship 
he  relinquished,  and  was  sent  with  it  to  Towcester, 
Shepard's    birthplace,   where   he    accomplished    much 


16  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

good.  It  is  interesting  to  find  their  names,  afterwards 
to  be  associated  here,  so  early  united  beyond  the  seas. 
But  the  oppressed,  silenced  preacher  was  not  alone. 
He  found  friends.  The  Harlakendens  were  so  many 
fathers  and  mothers  to  him.  He  remained  about  six 
months  with  them,  and  "  the  Lord  let  him  see  into  the 
evil  of  the  English  ceremonies."  Then  the  Bishop  was 
again  upon  him,  and  cited  him  to  appear  before  his 
court,  when  he  charged  him  to  depart  the  place.  He 
was  then  invited  to  go  to  Yorkshire  and  be  chaplain  in 
the  family  of  Sir  Richard  Darley,  at  a  town  called  But- 
tercrambe.  He  was  unwilling  to  go  so  far  from  his 
present  post,  unless  compelled  to  do  so.  "  I  did  not 
desire  to  stir  till  the  Bishop  fired  me  out  of  this  place." 
The  Bishop  was  not  long  in  doing  this.  A  few  clays 
after  he  had  ordered  Shepard  away,  he  held  a  visitation 
in  a  neighboring  town.  With  a  companion,  one  Mr.  Weld, 
already  excommunicated,  Shepard  travelled  to  the  place, 
discussing  as  they  went  the  plan  of  going  to  New  Eng- 
land. They  thought  it  was  better  to  go  to  Ireland  and 
preach  there.  That  was  not  God's  plan  for  Shepard,  or 
for  us.  They  drew  near  to  hear  the  Bishop's  speech, 
when  Weld  was  recognized  by  the  Bishop,  and  arrested 
for  being  on  forbidden  ground,  and  Shepard  was  saved 
from  the  same  fate  by  being  seized  away  by  watchful 
friends  while  the  officers  were  looking  for  him.  He 
was  again  urged  to  accept  the  position  in  Yorkshire, 
and  decided  to  do  so ;  "  the  rather  because  I  might  be 
far  from  the  hearing  of  the  malicious  Bishop  Laud,  who 
had  threatened  me  if  I  preached  anywhere."  It  was  a 
weary,  perilous  journey,  and  late  on  Saturday  night  he 
reached  the  house  where  he  was  to  serve.  The  prospect 
was  dismal  enough.     He  found  "  divers  of  them  at  dice 


'LECTURE  I.  17 

and  tables."  He  was  far  from  all  friends,  "  in  a  pro- 
fane house,"  "  in  a  vile,  wicked  town  and  county," 
with  small  likelihood  of  doing  any  work,  and  the 
consciousness  of  ill-desert  burdening  his  troubled 
soul.  But  things  were  to  come  out  better  than  this 
homesick  stranger  dared  to  think.  Sir  Eichard  treated 
him  kindly,  and  he  found  three  servants  who  were 
friendly.  The  name  of  one  of  these  stands  upon  the  list 
of  the  members  of  our  church.  Another,  the  knight's 
kinswoman,  with  the  hearty  approval  of  the  family, 
became  Shepard's  wife,  and  came  hither  with  him.  The 
words  of  the  preacher  were  blessed  to  those  with  whom 
he  labored.  A  sermon,  on  the  occasion  of  the  mar- 
riage of  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  house,  wrought 
great  changes  for  the  better  with  all  the  household. 
But  the  life  of  Shepard  was  not  to  be  spent  in  that 
obscurity.  His  good  wife  was  unwilling  to  remain 
there,  and  another  Bishop  was  on  his  track.  The  Lord 
gave  him  a  call  to  the  town  of  Heddon,  in  Northumber- 
land, a  place  where  he  "  might  preach  in  peace,  being 
far  from  any  Bishops,"  and  thither  he  went.  He  found 
friends,  and  his  labors  were  blessed,  but  his  tarry  was  of 
more  importance  in  that,  as  he  has  written  it,  "  I  came 
here  to  read  and  know  more  of  the  ceremonies,  church 
government  and  estate,  and  the  unlawful  standing  of 
Bishops  than  in  any  other  place."  The  poor  man  had 
troubles  in  all  their  variety.  For  some  reason  he  re- 
moved from  Heddon  after  a  year's  preaching,  and  came 
to  a  town  near  by,  where  he  dwelt  "  in  a  house  which 
we  found  haunted  with  the  Devil  as  we  conceived,  for 
when  we  went  into  it  a  known  witch  went  out  of  it, 
and  being  troubled  with  noises  four  or  five  nights 
together,  we  sought  God  by  prayer  to  remove  so  sore  a 

2 


18  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

trial ;  and  the  Lord  heard  and  blessed  us  there,  and  re- 
moved the  trouble."  But  there  was  no  rest,  for  the 
Bishop  put  in  a  priest  who  would  not  suffer  him  to 
preach  publicly  any  more,  and  no  efforts  could  secure 
him  the  liberty,  so  that  he  preached  up  and  down  the 
country  and  in  a  private  house.  But  things  were  work- 
ing well.  The  wrath  of  man  was  beginning  to  praise 
God  more  clearly.  At  this  time  there  came  to  him  a 
call  from  divers  friends  in  New  England  to  come  over 
to  them,  and  many  in  Old  England  desired  him  to 
go,  and  promised  to  accompany  him.  Cotton,  Hooker, 
Stone,  and  Weld  had  already  come,  and  to  his  mind 
the  Lord  seemed  to  have  departed  from  England  with 
them.  Shepard  resolved  to  come  with  his  friends,  to 
seek  here  the  liberty  and  purity  which  he  could  not  find 
in  England.  He  has  left  us  the  reasons  of  his  decision, 
which  were  in  all  respects  honorable  and  sufficient. 
He  was  willing  to  stay  and  to  suffer,  if  that  was  best, 
but  he  turned  with  relief  to  the  door  of  escape  which 
the  Lord  had  opened.  "  I  saw  no  reason  to  spend  my 
time  privately,  when  I  might  possibly  exercise  my 
talent  publicly  in  New  England."  Let  us  cherish  the 
memory  of  Margaret  Shepard.  "  My  dear  wife  did 
much  long  to  see  me  settled  there  in  peace,  and  so  put 
me  on  to  it."  He  came  down-  from  the  North  with  his 
wife  and  child,  in  a  ship  laden  with  coals,  coming  "  in 
a  disguised  manner,"  and  at  length  reached  his  old 
home  at  Earles-Colne,  where  he  waited  privately  at  the 
house  of  his  friend  Richard  Harlakenden,  the  brother  of 
Roger.  After  a  prolonged  delay,  the  ship  was  ready  to 
sail.  It  was  very  late  in  the  year,  but  he  would  not  turn 
back.  Soon  after  he  sailed  there  came  a  violent  storm, 
and  the  heavily  laden  ship  was  nearly  driven  upon  the 


LECTURE  1. 


19 


sands,  and  for  a  time  all  hope  was  gone.  Prayer  brought 
help.       The  wind  abated,  the  anchor  held,  and  boats 
came  from  the  shore,  and  the  tossed  preacher  and  his 
little  family  were  again  upon  the  land.     God's  time  was 
not  yet.     After  a  sickness  of  two  weeks  his  child  died, 
and  was  buried  privately  at  Yarmouth.     The  father  did 
not  dare  to  be  present  at  the  burial,  lest  the  officers  of 
the  church  should  seize  him.     His  afflictions  and  dis- 
appointment   made    him    more   ready    to    remain    in 
England.     He  found  the  reason  for  his  troubles  in  his 
own  guiltiness,  and  feared  he  had  gone  too  far  in  sep- 
aration from  the  "Assemblies  in  England."     He  had 
not  gone  too  far.     Why  should  he  stay  ?     Honorable 
martyrdom  is  honorable,  yet  one  is  not  called  to  throw 
away  his  life.     This  young  minister  must  have  bread 
for  his  household,  must  preach  the  gospel,  must  preach 
it  in  its  own  freedom  and  its  own  simplicity.     That  sea- 
girt isle,  dear  as  it  was,  was  not  all  the  world.    God  had 
his  plan,  which  he  was  leisurely  working  out. 

Which  way  should  the  poor  man  turn?  He  was 
offered  a  vacant  house  in  Norfolk,  owned  by  an  ao-ed, 
pious  woman,  and  there  he  passed  the  winter  out  of 
sight  of  his  enemies,  with  his  expenses  defrayed  by 
Roger  Harlakenden.  Though  he  could  not  preach  pub- 
licly, he  was  busy  with  his  pen,  and  wrote  some  things 
which  we  can  read  to-day.  Out  of  this  time  came  his 
treatise  entitled  "Certain  Select  Cases  Eesolved;  spe- 
cially tending  to  the  right  ordering  of  the  heart,  that  we 
may  comfortably  walk  with  God  in  our  general  and 
particular  callings.  In  a  letter  to  a  pious  friend  in 
England."  Silenced,  his  words  went  out  to  the  end  of 
the  world.  In  the  spring  of  1635  he  went  up  to  Lon- 
don with  his  good    friend,  to   prepare  again  to  leave 


20  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE 

England.  It  was  dangerous  ground,  for  his  great  enemy, 
Laud,  ruled  there.  He  found  a  very  private  place,  where 
another  son  was  born  to  him,  who,  like  the  former  one, 
was  named  Thomas.  This  was  he  who  was  after- 
wards pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Charlestown,  and 
was  succeeded  in  that  pastorate  by  his  son  Thomas. 
The  birth  of  this  child  was  kept  secret,  so  that  he  was 
not  baptized  till  he  was  brought  to  New  England.  The 
officers  found  out  in  some  way  that  Shepard  was  in 
London,  but  he  e'scaped  to  another  house  the  very  night 
they  came  to  search  for  him.  Then  the  Lord  seemed  to 
make  his  way  plain  to  come  to  New  England,  and  in 
August  he  embarked  with  his  wife  and  child,  his  brother 
Samuel  who  had  befriended  him  in  his  troubles,  Mr. 
Roger  Haiiakenden,  and  other  precious  friends,  lament- 
ing the  loss  of  their  native  country  when  they  took  their 
last  view  of  it.  It  is  supposed  that  Shepard  sailed  under 
the  name  of  his  brother,  inasmuch  as  the  list  of  passen- 
gers has  the  name  of  "  John  Shepard,  husbandman,  aged 
thirty-six."  It  was  exceedingly  difficult  for  ministers  to 
escape  from  England,  and  it  may  have  seemed  necessary 
to  resort  to  this  disguise.  We  cannot  help  regretting 
his  course,  while  we  cannot  doubt  that  he  acted  consci- 
entiously. It  is  possible  that  the  register  of  his  name 
may  have  been  made  by  some  one  else.  The  ship  was 
the  "  Defence,"  of  London,  and  she  was  "  very  rotten 
and  unfit  for  such  a  voyage,  and  at  the  first  storm  began 
to  leak  badly,  so  that  the  passengers  thought  they 
might  have  to  turn  back."  There  were  many  storms, 
but  after  "  a  longsome  voyage "  they  reached  Boston, 
where  they  were  welcomed  by  many  friends  with  much 
love.  On  the  second  day  after  their  arrival  Shepard 
came  with  his  family  to  Mr.  Stone's,  in  Newtown.    This 


LECTURE  I.  21 

was  just  at  the  time  when  the  congregation  here  were 
preparing  to  remove  to  Connecticut.  Shepard  and  his 
friends,  numbering  about  sixty  persons,  purchased  the 
houses  of  the  Hooker  Company,  and  decided  to  remain 
here  until  they  could  find  a  better  place  ;  a  few  of  the 
former  congregation  remained  with  them.  On  the  1st 
of  February,  1636,  0.  S.,  they  organized  their  Church, 
with  the  assistance  and  fellowship  of  the  neighboring 
churches.  Soon  after  Mr.  Shepard  was  installed  as 
pastor.  Here  beginneth  the  present  First  Church  in 
Cambridge. 

Here  we  must  pause.  But  as  we  bring  the  past  into 
the  present,  shall  we  not  gain  an  impulse  which  shall 
bear  us  on  through  all  the  work  which  is  given  us 
to  do  ?  "  One  generation  passeth  away  and  another 
generation  cometh."  It  is  something  to  have  an  hon- 
orable record  for  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  years. 
It  has  been  gained  by  the  piety,  devotion,  and  gener- 
osity of  those  who  have  been  before  us.  This  church 
has  been  rich  in  saints,  and  is  blessed  still  through  those 
who  have  fallen  on  sleep.  They  were  thoroughly  in 
earnest,  from  first  to  last.  Their  labors,  example,  spirit, 
are  our  inheritance.  Their  tears  and  prayers,  —  "are 
they  not  in  thy  book  ?  "  We  have  planned  well  for  the 
generations  to  come.  Should  we  not,  while  we  glory  in 
those  which  are  passed  ?  Where  will  you  set  the  name 
of  that  first  minister  ?  When  ?  In  what  spirit  ?  It 
has  come  to  be  our  turn  to  build  a  meeting-house.  We 
shall  do  it.  We  shall  do  it  well.  It  has  begun  well, 
on  paper  and  in  stone.  We  should  not  blush  if  we  saw 
the  phantom  "  Defence  "  sail  up  our  river,  and  yield  its 
burden  of  men  to  these  seats  and  this  pulpit,  and  send 
the  former  residents  of  Cambridge  beneath  the  shade 


22  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

of  our  venerated  Elm.  A  good  present  is  secure 
thus  far !  What  shall  another  Sabbath  show  ?  0 
my  brethren,  join  heartily  in  the  good  work  which 
comes  to  you  to-day.  Let  every  hand  help  it  forward, 
every  voice  speak  words  of  cheer,  every  treasury  yield 
its  treasure.  With  promptness  and  decision  we  will 
give  as  it  is  given  to  us.  Two  centuries,  and  more, 
speak  to  us  from  the  ground  where  our  first  sanctuary 
stood,  and  from  the  unknown  grave  of  Thomas  Shepard. 
We  hear.  We  will  heed.  The  generous  beginning  we 
have  already  made  shall  have  a  grand  consummation. 
And  here  and  in  our  finished  sanctuary  the  praise  shall 
be  to  Him  of  whom  are  the  fathers,  unto  whom  is  our 
homage  for  ever  and  ever. 


LECTUEE    II 

"  For  thet  got  not  the  land  in  possession  by  their  own  sword, 
neither  did  their  own  arm  save  them:  but  thy  right  hand,  and 
thine  arm,  and  the  light  of  thy  countenance,  because  thou  hadst 

A  FAVOR  UNTO  THEM."  —  Psalm  Xliv.  3. 

HISTORY  is  the  record  of  God's  plan.  It  is  easy 
to  trace  his  working  in  the  deeds  of  our  fathers. 
We  praise  the  men,  yet  the  honor  which  we  pay  them 
goes  beyond,  and  rests  on  him.  For  love  of  him  and 
his  truth,  for  the  freedom  of  the  conscience  which  he 
had  implanted,  for  liberty  to  worship  him  in  simplicity 
and  purity,  for  the  privilege  of  widening  his  kingdom 
and  blessing  those  who  should  come  after  them,  they 
deserted  a  land  they  loved,  and  the  church  in  which 
they  had  been  reared,  to  found  on  these  open  shores  a 
free  state  and  a  free  church.  They  accomplished  their  in- 
tent, and  wrought  out  greater  things  than  they  imagined. 
The  homage  of  a  continent  is  their  due  ;  the  world  owes 
them  admiration.  But  while  we  honor  them,  we  glorify 
Him  whom  they  served,  whose  hand  and  arm  gave  them 
the  land  in  possession,  the  light  of  whose  countenance  in 
the  constancy  of  his  favor  made  them  a  people.  In 
tracing  the  history  of  a  church  we  follow  out  the  lives 
of  the  good  men  who  laid  its  strong  foundation  and 
began  the  enduring  superstructure.  Yet  all  is  of  God. 
Unto  him  be  the  glory  of  all  we  admire,  the  gratitude 
for  all  we  enjoy. 

It  was  on  the  first  day  of  February,  in  the  year  of  our 


24  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

Lord  1636,  that  this  First  Church  in  Cambridge  was 
organized.  It  was  the  year  in  which,  on  a  later  day, 
Henry  Vane  was  chosen  governor  of  Massachusetts. 
A  man  of  twenty-three  years,  born  of  an  ancient  line, 
son  of  a  Privy  Counsellor  of  England,  prizing  the  pure 
ordinances  of  the  gospel  more  than  the  preferments  of 
Court,  sent  hither  by  the  command  of  the  King  who 
knew  his  desire  to  come,  whom  Milton  has  described  as 

"  Young  in  years,  but  in  sage  counsel  old. 

On  thy  firm  hand  Eeligion  leans 

In  peace,  and  reckons  thee  her  eldest  son." 

Sagacious,  vigorous,  prompt,  restless  in  any  condition 
which  might  be  improved,  eager  for  reform,  willing  to 
lead  the  way;  entering  on  his  office  amid  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  people,  with  John  Winthrop  for  his  deputy  and 
successor ;  after  the  troubled  service  of  a  single  year  to 
seek  the  stirring  scenes  of  his  native  land  to  find  in  them 
"  higher  and  harsher  fortunes  " ;  to  die  on  Tower  Hill 
after  the  Eestoration,  speaking  for  liberty  and  right, 
praying  calmly  and  confidently  through  the  blast  of 
trumpets,  "  Father,  glorify  thy  servant  in  the  sight  of 
man,  that  he  may  glorify  thee  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty  to  thee  and  to  his  country." 

Yet  brief  and  disturbed  as  were  his  tarry  and  service 
here,  there  came  to  him  rare  honor,  in  that  he  was  per- 
mitted to  preside  over  the  first  assembly  of  men  "  in 
which  the  people,  by  their  representatives,  ever  gave 
their  own  money  to  found  a  place  of  education."  "  The 
ancient  world  in  all  its  monarchies  or  republics,"  Eng- 
land with  its  ancient  schools  and  universities,  furnished 
no  precedent  for  the  public  action  out  of  which  rose 
Harvard  College. 


LECTURE  II.  25 

That  was  in  September.  This  was  the  time  when 
John  Hampden,  of  Buckinghamshire,  determined  to  re- 
sist the  imposition  of  a  tax  for  ship  money,  laid  upon 
people  who  never  saw  a  ship,  by  a  fiction  of  government 
which  made  a  country  a  hundred  miles  inland  border 
upon  the  sea,  and  refused  to  pay  the  assessment  of 
twenty  shillings  upon  his  estate.  He  was  defeated  in 
the  courts,  but  out  of  his  defeat  grew  larger  liberties 
than  he  sought,  and  the  King;  who  had  beaten  him  went 
through  the  window  of  Whitehall  Palace  and  laid  his 
head  upon  the  block.  That  was  in  the  year  in  which 
the  first  pastorate  of  this  church  came  to  an  end,  by  the 
death  of  a  man  whom  Charles's  Primate  had  driven  across 
the  seas.  The  reforms  wdiich  were  entered  upon  by  the 
Long  Parliament  were  felt  in  these  colonies,  distant 
but  closely  allied  with  the  mother-land.  Strafford  was 
beheaded,  Laud  imprisoned  to  be  afterwards  beheaded, 
and  many  other  persons  of  unhappy  notoriety,  bishops, 
judges,  officers,  were  reckoned  with  for  their  deeds  of  op- 
pression. England  promised  to  become  a  home  for  free- 
men. There  was  less  need  for  men  to  flee  the  country. 
Those  who  would  have  come  hither  waited  for  a  new 
world  in  the  old  land.  Emigration  stopped.  In  1640 
some  four  thousand  families,  embracing  about  twenty-one 
thousand  persons,  had  come  to  New  England.  For  a 
century  and  a  quarter  after  that  "  it  is  believed  that  more 
had  gone  from  hence  to  England  than  had  come  from 
thence  hither."  For  two  hundred  years  there  was  noth- 
ing which  could  be  called  an  immigration.  The  Puritan 
ranks  abroad  wrere  reinforced  by  New  England  men. 
Many  of  the  early  graduates  of  our  College  sought 
service  in  the  busy  field  from  which  their  fathers  had 
turned  away  in  a  time  when  there  was  less  to  do  and 


26  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

less  to  hope.  It  is  said  that  the  abler  part  of  the  first 
graduates  always  returned  to  England  to  render,  there 
the  service  of  their  lives.  The  effect  of  this  turning 
of  the  tide  is  manifest.  New  England  needed  the  men 
whom  Old  England  claimed.  But  the  contest  for  liberty 
and  right  must  be  waged  on  both  sides  of  the  wide  sea. 
The  cause  was  one.  The  victory  would  be  the  common 
advantage.  Still,  the  colony,  left  to  itself,  would  have 
but  a  slow  growth,  and  the  state  would  be  delayed. 
Eemembering  this,  the  vigor  and  advance  here  will  seem 
the  more  remarkable. 

I  take  up  our  own  history  again.  It  is  coming  into 
quiet  out  of  tumult.  The  field  seems  narrower.  Yet  the 
deeds  done  upon  it  were  of  wide  and  lasting  influence. 
Our  church  history  blends  with  the  colonial  history, 
which  widens  into  our  national  career,  and  takes  a  large 
place  in  the  annals  of  the  world.  It  was  a  simple 
thing  done  on  that  winter  day,  but  the  end  is  not  there, 
is  not  yet.  Thomas  Shepard  and  his  company,  about 
sixty  persons  in  all,  had  purchased  the  houses  of 
Thomas  Hooker  and  his  company,  and  were  ready  to 
form  themselves  into  a  church.  Governor  Winthrop 
has  described  the  proceedings  at  length.  The  magis- 
trates were  informed  of  the  desire  of  these  new-comers 
and  gave  their  approbation.  The  neighboring  churches 
sent  their  elders,  by  invitation,  to  give  their  assistance. 
A  great  assembly  was  convened.  It  was  a  grand  com- 
pany, containing  as  it  did  the  chief  men  of  the  churches 
and  of  the  colony.  The  two  Winthrops  we  must 
imagine  here,  and  Dudley,  and  Haynes,  and  Vane,  and 
Peters,  and  Wilson,  and  Cotton,  and  Mather,  and  Hook- 
er, and  Stone.  It  is  a  fine  sight  as  we  look  back  upon 
it.     Mr.  Shepard  and  two  others  who  were  afterwards 


LECTURE  II.  27 

to  be  chosen  to  office  sat  together  in  the  elders'  seat.  I 
think  that  one  of  the  two  was  Edmund  Frost,  who 
preceded  Shepard  to  these  shores,  and  was  made  one  of 
the  first  ruling  elders  of  the  church.  The  other  may 
have  been  Thomas  Marriot,  who  was  one  of  the  first 
deacons.  "  The  elder  of  these  began  with  prayer.  Mr. 
Shepard  prayed  with  deep  confession  of  sin,  and  ex- 
ercised "  out  of  that  glowing  passage  of  St.  Paul,  "  That 
he  might  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious  church."  The 
cause  of  the  meeting  was  declared,  and  it  was  asked 
how  many  were  needful  to  form  a  church  and  how  they 
should  proceed.  Some  of  the  ancient  ministers  con- 
ferred together,  and  reported  that  seven  was  a  fit  num- 
ber. In  accordance  with  their  further  counsel,  those 
who  were  to  form  the  church,  beginning  with  Mr. 
Shepard,  made  confession  of  their  faith  and  of  their 
personal  religious  experience.  Then  the  covenant  was 
read  and  assented  to.  Mr.  Cotton  of  Boston,  on  behalf  of 
the  churches,  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  Mr. 
Shepard  made  an  exhortation,  explaining  the  nature  of 
the  covenant  and  urging  his  associates  to  stand  firm  to 
it,  closing  with  "  a  most  heavenly  prayer."  The  Elder 
then  announced  that  the  church  proposed  to  choose  Mr. 
Shepard  for  their  pastor,  and  gave  the  members  of  the 
council  thanks  for  their  assistance,  "  and  so  left  them  to 
the  Lord."  At  a  subsequent  day,  which  cannot  be  pre- 
cisely determined,  Mr.  Shepard  was  installed  in  the 
pastoral  office. 

Let  us  linger  for  a  moment  upon  the  constitution  of 
this  church.  At  its  beginning  and  during  its  early 
years,  as  at  a  later  time,  it  numbered  among  its  members 
various  men  of  influence,  whose  names  are  found  in 
other  connections.      Of   Shepard  himself  I  can  speak 


28  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

better  in  another  place.  We  know  through  what  toils 
and  trials  he  found  the  repose  of  this  wilderness  and 
liberty  to  preach  the  Word.  Besides  his  Autobiography, 
he  left  a  small  book  in  which  he  had  recorded  "  the 
confession  of  divers  propounded  to  be  received,  and  who 
were  entertained  as  members."  From  that  and  other 
sources  we  learn  the  names  of  many  of  the  early  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  and  something  of  their  history.  So 
long  as  the  law  required  the  freeman  to  be  a  member  of 
the  church,  the  list  of  freemen  gives  us  the  names  of 
many  members.  If  there  were  any  complete  church 
records  prior  to  1696  they  have  disappeared,  and  we 
are  compelled  to  gather  up  the  fragments  of  our  early 
life  wherever  they  can  be  found.  Happily,  many  of  the 
events  in  which  this  church  and  its  ministers  bore  a 
part  were  of  sufficient  public  importance  to  gain  a  place 
in  the  histories  of  the  times.  Among  those  early  mem- 
bers was  John  Haynes,  Governor  of  Massachusetts 
when  the  church  was  organized,  who  came  over  with 
Thomas  Hooker  and  John  Cotton  ;  a  man  of  good  family, 
rich  enough  to  be  able,  generous  enough  to  be  willing, 
to  refuse  the  salary  of  his  office.  "  A  heavenly  man," 
Eoger  Williams  said.  He  married  Mabel,  the  sister  of 
Koger  Harlakenden,and  in  1637  removed  to  Connecticut, 
where  he  was  made  governor.  A  man  of  sterling  worth, 
of  courteous  manners,  of  public  spirit,  who  never  lost  the 
confidence  of  those  whom  he  served  in  his  high  station, 
and  filled  a  large  place  in  the  rising  state.  There  was 
Eoger  Harlakenden,  of  that  house  which  protected  and 
supported  the  young  Shepard  and  his  family  in  the  days 
of  their  persecution,  who  came  with  them  to  this  country, 
and  after  three  years  was  called  up  higher.  Winthrop 
says  of  him,  "  He  was  a  very  godly  man,  and  of  good 


LECTURE  II.  29 

use  both  in  commonwealth  and  in  church.  He  died  in 
great  peace,  and  left  a  sweet  memorial  behind  him  of 
his  piety  and  virtue."  As  he  was  lieutenant-colonel, 
he  was  buried  with  military  honors,  but  now  no  man 
knoweth  of  his  grave.  And  Eichard  Champney,  ruling 
elder  of  the  church,  descended  from  Sir  Henry  Champ- 
ney, one  of  the  thirty  brave  warriors  who  fought  in  1066 
at  the  battle  of  Hastings,  under  William  the  Conqueror. 
There  was  Samuel  Green,  who  came  in  1632,  and  was 
for  fifty  years  a  printer,  whose  greatest  work  was  the 
Indian  Bible,  which  he  and  Marmaduke  Johnson  brought 
out.  John  Dunton  speaks  of  him  in  terms  of  great 
friendliness,  while  he  lavishes  admiration  on  his  wife. 
And  Matthew  Day,  the  first  known  steward  of  the  Col- 
lege, son  of  the  first  printer ;  who  died  in  1649,  and  in 
his  will  left  20s.  to  his  minister,  and  "a  table-cloth 
and  napkins  not  yet  made  up "  to  his  minister's  wife, 
and  gave  tokens  of  remembrance  to  little  Samuel  and 
Jeremy  Shepard.  There  was  Thomas  Cheeseholme, 
the  second  steward  of  the  College,  a  tailor  by  trade,  but 
apparently  the  first  person  in  Cambridge  licensed  to 
keep  a  house  of  entertainment  and  to  draw  wine.  And 
Edward  Winship,  for  many  years  honored  by  his  fellow- 
citizens  with  election  to  office,  and  giving  to  the  town 
his  daughter  Joanna,  who  was  long  the  maiden  school- 
mistress. And  Nathaniel  Eaton,  of  whom  we  do  not 
boast,  who  was  the  first  head  of  the  embryo  College, 
but  who,  for  beating  his  tutor  and  abusing  his  students, 
with  other  misdemeanors,  was  thrust  from  his  place 
and  fined,  and  subsequently  cast  out  of  the  church. 

There  was  the  first  of  the  Sparrowhawkes,  the  house 
which  in  different  generations  gave  the  church  four 
deacons,  and  served  the  community  in  other  offices  of 


30  FIRST   CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

trust.  And  Edward  Collins,  the  deacon,  father  of  fa- 
mous sons,  one  of  whom,  after  joining  the  church,  was 
the  chaplain  of  Monk  when,  Jay  Cromwell's  orders,  he 
brought  Scotland  into  subjection  to  the  Parliament. 
There  was  Henry  Dunster,  the  first  President  of  the 
College,  who  after  fourteen  years  of  service  was  com- 
pelled to  resign  his  place.  He  went  away  in  sadness, 
and  at  his  death  gave  directions  that  he  should  be 
buried  here,  by  the  side  of  the  school  he  loved.  So  it 
was,  and  careful  research  has  discovered  his  grave ; 
"as  true  a  friend,"  says  Mr.  Quincy,  "and  as  faithful  a 
servant,  as  this  College  ever  possessed."  Among  the 
records  to  which  I  have  alluded  is  a  long  statement  of 
his  religious  belief  and  character,  evidently  made  by 
himself  when  he  united  with  this  church.  And  Thomas 
Danforth,  Treasurer  and  Steward  of  the  College,  Eep- 
resentative,  Assistant,  Deputy-Governor,  President  for 
Maine,  and  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  pro- 
ceedings against  witches.  And  Daniel  Gookin,  the 
"  Worshipful  Captain,"  Representative,  Speaker,  As- 
sistant, Major-General ;  who  had  a  prominent  part  in 
public  affairs  at  home,  and  an  influence  which  was 
recognized  abroad  ;  the  friend  of  the  Indians  ;  the  pro- 
tector of  Whalley  and  Goffe,  yet  loyal  enough  to  dedicate 
his  Historical  Collections  to  the  King.  There  was 
Herbert  Pelham,  who,  after  befriending  the  cause 
of  the  colonists  for  ten  years  as  a  member  of  the  com- 
pany in  London,  came  to  this  country.  He  was  of  high 
rank,  matriculated  at  Magdalen  Hall  in  Oxford,  and  for 
a  long  time  engaged  in  public  service.  He  was  the  first 
Treasurer  of  our  College.  He  married  the  widow  of 
Roger  Harlakenden,  and  in  1649  returned  to  England. 
There  was  Elijah  Corlet,  for  more  than  forty  years  the 


LECTURE  II.  31 

schoolmaster  here,  and  highly  approved  for  his  "  abil- 
ities, dexterity,  and  painfulness  in  teaching."  These 
Yv-ere  all  in  Shepard's  time.  These  selected  names  sug- 
gest a  goodly  list  for  the  day  of  beginnings.  Our 
ecclesiastical  ancestry  is  noble. 

"What  was  this  organization  ?  It  was  a  Congregational 
church.  Its  members  were  men  and  women  who  con- 
fessed God  as  their  Creator  and  Sovereign,  and  Jesus 
Christ  as  their  Saviour.  They  confessed  the  Bible  to 
be  the  word  of  God,  and  promised  to  walk  by  its  pre- 
cepts. They  professed  to  have  been  born  again  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  to  have  entered  thus  upon  a  new  life, 
whose  inspiration  was  from  heaven,  whither  its  aspira- 
tions bore  it.  They  banded  themselves  together  for  the 
worship  of  God  and  all  the  ordinances  of  religion.  They 
made  covenant  one  with  another,  and  all  with  God. 
They  claimed  the  right  to  order  their  affairs  for  them- 
selves, subject  only  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church, 
and  obedient  to  his  revealed  will.  But  they  owned  the 
fellowship  of  the  churches,  and  asked  counsel  in  their 
important  affairs,  and  held  themselves  bound  by  the  laws 
of  Christian  communion  and  affection.  Their  model  was 
in  the  first  Christian  churches.  They  had  suffered  from 
human  inventions,  and  found  comfort  and  strength  in 
the  simplicity  which  is  in  Christ  and  his  Apostles. 
The  infant  colony  has  become  a  mighty  nation  ;  many 
generations  have  come  and  gone ;  but  their  church  re- 
mains, cleaving  as  fondly  and  firmly  as  ever  to  the  faith 
and  order  which  were  once  delivered  unto  the  saints. 
Time  testifies  to  their  wisdom. 

The  form  of  covenant  to  which  this  church  assented 
has  not  been  preserved.  But  we  have  the  covenant  of 
the  First  Church  in  Charlestown,  formed  a  little  earlier, 


32  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

and  it  is  probable  that  the  covenant  here  agreed  sub- 
stantially with  that.  The  Charlestown  covenant  is  in 
these  words :  "  In  the  Name  of  our  Lord  God,  and  in 
obedience  to  his  holy  will  and  divine  ordinances.  We, 
whose  names  are  here  written,  being  by  his  most  wise 
and  good  providence  brought  together,  and  desirous  to 
unite  ourselves  into  one  Congregation,  or  Church,  under 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  our  Head,  in  such  sort  as  be- 
cometh  all  those  whom  he  hath  redeemed  and  sanctified 
unto  himself,  do  here  solemnly  and  religiously,  as  in  his 
most  holy  presence,  promise  and  bind  ourselves  to  walk 
in  all  our  ways  according  to  the  Eules  of  the  Gospel, 
and  in  all  sincere  conformity  to  his  holy  Ordinances, 
and  in  mutual  love  and  respect  each  to  other,  so  near 
as  God  shall  give  us  grace."  There  was  another 
covenant,  in  almost  the  same  words,  with  the  change  of 
form  which  was  needed,  to  which  those  assented  who 
were  received  to  the  church  after  its  formation. 

There  was  no  written  confession  of  faith  besides  this. 
The  church  at  Salem  had  a  fuller  confession,  framed  by 
Mr.  Higginson,  but  that  was  not  usual.  The  fathers 
did  not  think  it  needful  to  make  a  formal  statement  of 
doctrine  which  should  be  peculiarly  their  own.  In 
doctrine  they  agreed  with  other  reformed  churches,  and 
it  was  not  on  that  matter,  but  upon  the  question  of 
worship  and  discipline,  that  they  separated  themselves 
from  the  English  Church,  and  came  out  into  a  new  land 
They  thought  it  an  advantage,  and  to  the  honor  of  their 
Lord,  if  many  churches  could  unite  in  the  same  con- 
fession. In  1648  the  Synod  composed  of  the  Elders  and 
Messengers  of  the  churches,  which  met  here  and  framed 
the  Cambridge  platform  of  church  discipline,  having  been 
requested  by  the  magistrates  to  draw  up  a  public  con- 


LECTURE  II.  33 

fession  of  that  faith  which  was  constantly  taught  and 
generally  professed,  thought  it  good  to  present  to  the 
churches  the  confession  which  had  been  recently  issued 
by  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines,  excepting  cer- 
tain parts  which  related  to  discipline.  In  1680,  by  the 
call  and  encouragement  of  the  General  Court,  the  elders 
and  messengers  met  again  in  council  in  Boston,  and 
prepared  what  is  known  as  the  Boston  Confession.  It 
was  a  declaration  of  faith.  For  matters  of  discipline 
they  referred  to  the  Cambridge  Platform.  These  two 
documents  have  been  essentially  the  constitution  of  our 
churches,  while  it  has  become  almost  universal  for  each 
church  to  have  an  abridgment  of  their  statements  for 
common  use.  But  while  our  earliest  churches  had  no 
written  confession,  they  required  of  their  members  as 
full  and  distinct  an  avowal  of  their  faith  and  their  per- 
sonal religious  life  as  has  ever  been  demanded.  They 
had  their  creed.  Every  church  has.  It  may  be  written 
or  unwritten.  But  a  body  of  men  formed  for  a  distinct 
purpose  must  believe  something  in  common,  and  that 
belief,  be  it  ever  so  narrow,  be  it  on  paper  or  in  the  gen- 
eral consent,  is  a  creed.  Men  may  contend  against  this 
or  that  particular  statement,  but  warfare  against  creeds 
is  simply  beating  the  air ;  it  is  warfare  against  belief, 
that  is,  against  reason,  intelligence,  conscience.  Our 
fathers  left  no  one  in  doubt  regarding  their  views  of 
truth.  They  knew  the  men  whom  they  admitted  to 
the  establishment  and  increasing  of  a  church.  The 
covenant  itself  was  no  blind  confession,  as  we  have 
seen.  The  book  kept  by  Thomas  Shepard,  of  which  I 
have  spoken,  gives  us  the  confession  of  fifty  persons. 
On  the  day  of  the  organization  here,  those  who  were  to 
be  formed  into  the  church  made  public  confession  of 


34  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

their  faith.  These  statements  agreed  in  point  of  doc- 
trine. The  preaching  of  such  men  as  Shepard  would 
keep  the  people  instructed  in  the  truth  and  prepared  to 
make  covenant  with  God  and  their  brethren.  "  The 
matter  of  a  visible  church  are  saints  by  calling,"  so  they 
said  here.  The  theory  of  the  fathers  was  that  each 
church  should  make  its  own  officers  and  administer  its 
own  affairs.  But  in  doing  this  they  were  working  in 
fellowship  with  others  who  were  seeking  the  same  ends 
by  the  same  means,  owning  allegiance  to  the  same  Lord 
and  Saviour,  following  the  precepts  of  the  same  inspired 
Word.  In  their  statements  they  emphasize  the  freedom 
of  each  church.  They  are  the  more  careful  to  do  this 
because  they  have  broken  away  from  a  consolidated 
body,  with  a  hierarchial  clergy.  Their  past  sufferings, 
their  present  exile,  their  own  experience  and  dread  and 
hope,  put  the  stress  upon  their  independence.  Yet 
they  loved  the  other  churches,  and  lived  in  fellowship 
with  them.  One  chapter  of  the  Cambridge  Platform  is 
devoted  to  "  the  communion  of  churches  one  with 
another."  Their  common  history,  position,  perils,  de- 
sires, united  them.  Advice,  assistance,  communion,  we 
may  call  that  which  the  churches  gave  and  took  among 
themselves  ;  but  in  meaning,  in  force,  in  regard,  it  was 
law.  There  are  no  bands  stronger  than  love  throws 
around  us.  Silken  and  soft,  they  hold  when  iron  breaks. 
The  decrees  of  the  High  Commission  Court  came  with 
more  sound  of  authority,  but  men  resisted  them  and 
turned  their  faces  to  the  wilderness  to  render  willing  alle- 
giance to  the  elders  and  messengers  of  the  churches.  We 
find  freedom  at  the  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes ;  yet  from 
the  lips  of  our  Lord  Christ  fall  commandments  as  strict, 
as  exacting,  as  were  heard  amid  the  thunders  of  Sinai. 


LECTURE  II.  35 

I  dwell  on  this  now,  because  there  is  some  tendency 
towards  a  mere  independence  among  our  churches. 
Congregationalism  confers  independence  under  the  law 
of  Christian  fellowship.  For  men,  for  churches,  the 
commandment  is  one  :  Love  thyself ;  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself.  Under  this  the  Fathers  acted ;  in  this  is 
our  safety  and  honor.  In  the  view  of  the  fathers  a 
church  should  have  five  officers,  —  pastor  and  teacher, 
who  were  called  elders,  ruling  elder,  deacon,  and  deacon- 
ess. The  last  I  do  not  find  that  they  ever  had  in  form. 
These  officers  were  to  be  chosen  and  ordained  by  the 
church  in  which  they  served.  The  pastor's  special  work 
was  to  "attend  to  exhortation,  and  therein  to  admin- 
ister a  word  of  wisdom."  He  was  to  apply  the  pre- 
cepts of  Scripture  to  the  lives  of  men.  The  teacher  was 
to  "  attend  to  doctrine,  and  therein  to  administer  a  word 
of  wisdom."  The  one,  therefore,  had  what  we  should 
term  the  practical,  and  the  other  the  doctrinal,  part  of 
the  present  ministerial  office.  Both  were  to  administer 
the  sacraments  of  the  church.  Both  were  also  "  to  exe- 
cute the  censures."  The  earliest  church  here  had  both 
pastor  aud  teacher,  but  in  our  own  church  the  two 
offices  seem  to  have  been  combined  from  the  beinmiino-. 
The  ruling  elder  was  to  attend  to  the  discipline  of  the 
church,  and  to  take  the  lead  in  all  matters  of  business. 
"  To  feed  the  flock  of  God  with  a  word  of  admonition, 
and  as  they  shall  be  sent  for,  to  visit  and  pray  over 
their  sick  brethren."  The  office  was  not  of  lono-  con- 
tinuance.  In  fifty  years  from  the  settlement  of  the 
•country  it  had  fallen  into  comparative  disuse,  although 
it  was  continued  here  till  near  the  close  of  the  century. 
The  deacon  was  to  be  a  man  proved  and  found  blame- 
less.      His  work  was  "  to  receive  the  offerings  of  the 


36  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

church,  and  to  keep  the  treasury  of  the  church,  and 
therewith  to  serve  the  tables  which  the  church  is  to 
provide  for  ;  as  the  Lord's  table,  the  table  of  the  minis- 
ters, and  of  such  as  are  in  necessity,  to  whom  they  are 
to  distribute  in  simplicity."  Some  churches  had  one 
deacon,  some  two,  some  three.  The  number  of  elders 
varied  in  different  churches.  In  the  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five  years  of  the  history  of  this  church  there  have 
been  eleven  pastors  ;  and  I  find  the  names  of  four 
ruling  elders  and  thirty-one  deacons.  Having  seen  the 
constitution  of  the  church,  shall  we  look  now  at  its 
methods,  and  somewhat  at  the  ordering  of  the  social 
life  about  it  ? 

"  The  public  worship,"  says  an  early  writer,  "  is  in 
as  fair  a  meeting-house  as  they  can  provide,  wherein, 
in  most  places,  they  have  been  at  great  charges."  If  we 
could  go  within  the  rude  sanctuary  which  once  stood 
near  this  spot,  we  should  find  a  rough  room,  divided  by 
a  central  passage,  and  furnished  with  benches.  On  one 
side  of  the  house  the  males  would  sit,  on  the  other  the 
females.  Very  likely  some  of  the  men  would  have  carnal 
weapons.  The  pulpit  would  be  found  to  be  a  stand  or 
desk,  within  a  railing,  and  in  its  plainness  in  keeping 
with  its  surroundings.  On  the  Lord's  Day  there  was  a 
bell  here  to  call  the  people,  but  for  some  reason  there 
was  at  one  time  the  beating  of  a  drum  for  the  same 
purpose.  In  our  town  records  for  1646  is  an  entry  of 
"  fifty  shillings  paid  unto  Thomas  Langhorne  for  his 
service  to  the  town  in  beating  the  drum  these  two 
years  past."  It  was  common  to  have  an  hour-glass  in- 
the  church  by  which  to  measure  the  time  of  the  services. 
When  the  people  became  able  to  arrange  the  meeting- 
house according  to  their  idea  of  the  fitness  of  things, 


LECTURE  II.  37 

the  ruling  elders  had  a  seat  below  the  pulpit,  and  the 
deacons  a  seat  a  little  lower  down,  where  they  faced  the 
congregation.  The  pulpit  was  an  elaborate  structure 
under  a  sounding-board.  The  boys  had  a  place  by 
themselves,  in  one  of  the  galleries,  with  a  tithing-man 
to  maintain  order.  In  1666  we  have  this  record  on  the 
town-book,  "  Thomas  Fox  is  ordered  to  look  to  the 
youth  in  time  of  public  worship."  In  1669  there  was 
complaint  that  sundry  persons  were  spending  holy 
time  unprofitably  without  the  meeting-house,  and  the 
constable  was  ordered  to  see  "  that  they  do  attend  upon 
the  public  worship  of  God."  In  many  cases  the  meet- 
ing-house was  finished  by  degrees.  At  first  benches 
would  be  put  in.  A  man  could  obtain  a  deed  of  a 
space  on  the  floor,  some  six  feet  square,  and  erect  a  pit 
or  pew  upon  it.  He  was  to  keep  his  pew  in  repair,  and 
"  maintain  all  the  glass  against  it."  Where  there  was 
no  such  private  arrangement,  the  people  had  seats 
assigned  them  by  a  committee,  according  to  rank  or 
property  or  age.  This  was  called  "dignifying"  a 
,house.  Here  is  an  order  of  1658  :  "  That  the  elders, 
deacons,  and  selectmen  for  the  time  being  shall  be  a 
constant  and  settled  power  for  regulating  the  sitting  of 
persons  in  the  meeting-house  from  time  to  time  as  need 
shall  require."  Here  is  the  committee's  appointment 
for  1662.  I  will  not  read  it,  but  it  begins  in  this  way  : 
"  Brother  Jackson's  wife  to  sit  there  where  Sister  Kemp- 
ster  was  wont  to  sit.  Mrs.  Upham  with  her  mother. 
Esther  Sparhawke  in  the  place  where  Mrs.  Upham  is 
removed  from,"  and  so  on.  In  the  New  England  cus- 
toms the  congregation  met  as  early  as  nine  o'clock  on* 
Sabbath  morning  and  about  two  in  the  afternoon.  The 
services  consisted  of  prayer,  singing,  reading  and  ex- 


38  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

pounding  the  Scriptures,  for  it  was  generally  accounted 
improper  to  read  them  without  exposition,  —  "  dumb 
reading,"  they  called  it.  There  was  a  sermon  also  by 
the  pastor  or  teacher.  As  they  accounted  a  man  a 
minister  only  in  his  own  congregation,  when  one  was  in 
the  pulpit  of  another  clergyman  it  was  common  for  the 
ruling  elders  of  the  place  to  give  him  authority  to  speak 
in  some  such  form  as  this  :  "  If  this  present  brother 
hath  any  word  of  exhortation  for  the  people  at  this 
time,  in  the  name  of  God  let  him  say  on."  His  "  saying 
on  "  was  called  prophesying.  An  hour  was  considered 
the  proper  length  for  a  sermon,  although  upon  occasions 
the  preacher  might  "  take  another  glass,"  as  it  was 
sometimes  facetiously  described.  The  sermon  was 
usually  preached  without  notes  in  the  first  century. 
The  prayers  were,  of  course,  extemporaneous.  Children 
were  baptized  in  the  meeting-house,  generally  on  the 
next  Sabbath  after  their  birth,  sometimes  on  the  day  of 
their  birth.  The  pastor  or  teacher  stood  in  the  deacons' 
seat,  as  that  was  an  "  eminent  place,"  and  with  an 
address  to  the  church  and  the  parents,  and  two  prayers, 
administered  the  sacred  ordinance.  "  No  sureties  were 
required."  The  Lord's  Supper  was  administered  once 
in  each  month,  at  the  morning  service.  The  form  was 
very  much  like  our  own.  Persons  wrere  received  to 
membership  in  public,  but  with  more  of  examination 
and  profession  than  with  us.  Cases  of  discipline  were 
more  publicly  dealt  with  than  is  usual  now.  It  is  to 
be  remembered  that  the  whole  life  of  the  people  was 
marked  by  a  simplicity  and  frankness  and  familiarity 
which  have  lessened  with  the  changes  which  have  come 
upon  society.  Every  Sabbath  afternoon  there  was  a 
contribution.      One    of  the   deacons   stood   up  in  his 


LECTURE  II.  39 

place,  and  said,  "  Brethren  of  the  congregation,  now 
there  is  time  left  for  contribution,  wherefore,  as  God 
hath  prospered  you,  so  freely  offer."  "On  some  extraor- 
dinary occasions,"  says  an  old  writer,  "  as  building 
and  repairing  of  churches  or  meeting-houses,  or  other 
necessities,  the  ministers  press  a  liberal  contribution, 
with  effectual  exhortation  out  of  Scripture."  Then  the 
people  passed  up  to  the  deacons'  seat  with  their  offer- 
ings. "  The  magistrates  and  chief  gentlemen  went  first, 
then  the  elders,  then  all  the  congregation  of  men,  and 
most  of  them  that  are  not  of  the  church,  all  single  per- 
sons, widows,  and  women  in  absence  of  their  husbands." 
Money  and  papers  were  dropped  into  a  box  ;  if  the 
offering  were  "  any  other  chattel,"  it  was  set  down 
before  the  deacons.  The  writer  just  quoted  says,  "  I 
havre  seen  a  fair  gilt  cup  with  a  cover  offered  there  by 
one,  which  is  still  used  at  the  Communion."  It  was 
customary  for  visitors  in  the  congregation  to  make  an 
offering  which  was  called  "  the  strangers'  money,"  and 
was  often  stipulated  for  by  the  clergyman  as  a  per- 
quisite of  his  office.  At  first  the  minister's  salary  was 
paid  from  the  voluntary  contribution  made  on  the  Sab- 
bath, but  this  soon  gave  way  to  the  system  of  taxation. 
In  a  list  of  the  salaries  given  to  different  ministers 
during  the  first  twrenty  years  of  the  Massachusetts 
colony,  Mr.  Shepard's  salary  is  stated  at  seventy  pounds- 
This  was  among  the  largest  salaries  of  the  time.  Two 
are  given  at  ninety  pounds,  three  at  eighty  pounds,  and 
they  decrease  gradually  to  thirty  pounds.  At  almost 
every  point  we  can  see  where  the  fathers  were  swinging 
away  from  the  customs  of  the  church  in  which  they 
had  lost  and  endured  so  much.  Thus,  marriage  was  not 
a  sacrament,  but  a  civil  contract,  entered  into  by  the 


40  FIRST   CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

parties  before  a  magistrate.  This  marrying  by  a  magis- 
trate was  for  the  Pilgrims  "  according  to  the  laudable 
example  of  the  Low  Countries  in  which  they  had  lived." 
To  perform  this  ceremony  was  nowhere  found  in  the 
gospel  to  be  laid  on  the  ministers  as  a  part  of  their 
office.  Winthrop  mentions  a  great  marriage  to  be 
solemnized  in  Boston,  when  the  bridegroom  invited  his 
minister  to  preach  on  the  occasion.  "  The  magistrates 
sent  to  him  to  forbear.  We  were  not  willing  to  bring- 
in  the  custom  of  ministers'  performing  the  solemnity  of 
marriage,  which  sermons  at  such  times  might  induce ; 
but  if  any  minister  were  present,  and  would  bestow  a 
word  of  exhortation,  etc.,  it  was  permitted."  In  like 
manner  funerals  were  stripped  of  the  ceremonies  which 
had  attended  them  abroad.  The  dead  were  no  longer 
buried  with  imposing  rites  beneath  the  floor  of  the 
church  or  in  consecrated  ground,  but  were  laid  in  some 
convenient  enclosure,  without  even  a  prayer.  Lechford, 
writing  in  1641,  says,  "At  burials  nothing  is  read,  nor 
any  funeral  sermon  made,  but  all  the  neighborhood,  or  a 
good  company  of  them,  come  together  by  tolling  of  the 
bell,  and  carry  the  dead  solemnly  to  his  grave,  and  there 
stand  by  him  while  he  is  buried.  The  ministers  are 
most  commonly  present."  No  burial  was  allowed  on 
the  Sabbath,  except  by  leave  obtained  from  a  justice.  It 
was  long  the  custom  when  a  woman  was  buried  for  the 
women  to  walk  first  in  the  procession  ;  the  men  when 
a  man  was  to  be  interred.  Funerals  were  somewhat 
expensive,  although  not  in  the  same  direction  as  at 
present.  This  was  especially  the  case  when  a  person  of 
note  was  buried :  wine,  cider,  gloves,  were  provided  ; 
and  in  one  case,  in  Ipswich,  at  the  funeral  of  a  minister, 
in  1768,  the  bearers  were  furnished  with  gold  rings,  one 


LECTURE  II.  41 

of  which  was  also  given  to  "  a  candidate  who  was 
preaching  for  them,"  and  the  attending  ministers  re- 
ceived eighteen  pairs  of  white  leather  gloves.  At 
length  an  Act  was  passed  to  retrench  extraordinary  ex- 
penses at  funerals.  They  kept  none  of  the  former  holy 
days,  except  the  Lord's  Day,  associating  the  observance 
of  them  with  superstition  and  oppression.  But  they 
instituted  days  of  public  fasting  and  thanksgiving.  In 
addition  to  the  Sabbath  services  there  was  a  weekly 
lecture.  The  Thursday  lecture  in  Boston  has  come 
down  to  our  own  time.  They  gave  great  heed  to  the 
training  of  the  young  in  religion  and  good  learning. 
This  town  was  early  divided  into  districts,  which  were 
assigned  to  certain  persons  who  were  to  see  to  the  cate- 
chizing and  educating  of  the  youth.  The  school  which 
here  grew  into  the  College  was  established  the  same  year 
with  the  church,  and  wratched  over  with  interest  and 
generosity.  In  1648  is  an  order  that  a  part  of  the  Com- 
mon shall  be  sold  "  for  the  gratifying  of  Mr.  Corlet  for 
his  pains  in  keeping  a  school  in  the  town."  In  1644 
the  General  Court  granted,  on  the  petition  of  Cambridge 
and  Charlestown,  one  thousand  acres  of  land  to  be  for- 
ever appropriated  to  a  grammar  school ;  and  also  made 
a  grant  of  two  hundred  acres  of  land  to  Mr.  Corlet. 
The  instruction  in  the  family  and  school  was  simple, 
compared  with  that  which  is  now  given.  There  were 
no  spelling-books,  no  English  grammars,  little  of  what 
is  now  considered  the  essential  apparatus  of  instruction. 
Children  learned  to  read  from  the  Bible,  taking  in 
truth  with  the  letters  and  syllables.  An  out-of-door  life 
gave  the  youth  object-lessons  and  teaching  in  practical 
mechanics.  A  grammar  school  was  one  where  Latin 
and  Greek  were  taught.     Students  learned  to  talk  in 


42  FIRST   CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

Latin,  and  gained  a  familiarity  with  its  usages  which 
our  present  system  hardly  gives.  Our  schools  are  in 
advance  of  the  old,  doubtless.  But  there  was  some 
advantage  in  having  only  a  few  books,  and  those  the 
best,  which  were  to  be  read  till  they  were  almost 
known  by  heart.  Printing  in  this  part  of  America 
began  here.  The  first  printer  was  Stephen  Day,  who 
brought  out  "The  Freeman's  Oath"  in  1639;  an  al- 
manac by  William  Pierce,  Mariner,  in  the  same  year, 
and  in  the  following  year  a  psalm-book.  The  singing 
in  the  churches  was  without  instrumental  accompani- 
ment. This  was  thought  to  be  forbidden  by  the  words 
of  Amos,  "  I  will  not  hear  the  melody  of  thy  viols."  It 
was  compared  to  the  idolatrous  performance  which 
Nebuchadnezzar  delighted  in,  "  the  sound  of  the  cornet, 
flute,  harp,  sackbut,  psaltery,  and  dulcimer,  and  all 
kinds  of  music."  Through  the  first  century  there  were 
not  more  than  ten  different  tunes,  it  is  said,  and  few  con- 
gregations could  sing  more  than  five.  In  the  singing  it 
was  customary  for  the  ruling  elder,  or  deacon,  or  some 
other  proper  person,  to  read  the  hymn  line  by  line  and 
give  out  the  tune.  When  a  line  had  been  read,  it  could 
be  sung  by  the  people.  The  amount  read  at  each  time 
was  increased  in  some  cases,  and  after  a  time  the  whole 
hymn  was  read  at  once  by  the  minister.  In  the  old 
Ipswich  church  in  1763  there  were  seats  assigned  the 
choir,  "  two  back  on  each  side  of  the  front  alley."  After- 
wards the  choir  went  into  the  gallery.  The  rude 
simplicity  of  our  fathers  had  some  things  to  recommend 
it  in  comparison  with  the  services  which  in  some  places 
have  of  late  been  thrust  into  public  worship  under  the 
guise  of  sacred  song.  The  version  of  the  Psalms  in  use 
here,  as  far  as  I  can  determine,  was  that  made  by  Stern- 


LECTURE  II.  43 

hold  and  Hopkins,  and  printed  at  the  end  of  the  Bible. 
But  there  was  a  desire  for  a  better  book.  There  was 
complaint  that  the  translation  in  use  had  "so  many 
detractions  from,  additions  to,  and  variations  of,  not  only 
the  text  but  the  very  sense  of  the  psalmist,  that  it  was 
an  offence  unto  them";  so  Cotton  Mather  explains  it.  A 
number  of  prominent  divines  were  appointed  to  make  a 
new  version.  Eliot  of  Boxbury  and  Mather  of  Dor- 
chester were  among  them.  Our  Thomas  Shepard  gave 
them  warning  in  a  stanza  which  makes  us  submissive  to 
his  absence  from  the  committee,  and  reminds  us  that 
great  men  are  not  always  poets. 

"  You  Roxb'ry  poets,  keep  clear  of  the  crime 
Of  missing  to  give  us  very  good  rhyme. 
And  you  of  Dorchester,  your  verses  lengthen, 
But  with  the  text's  own  words  you  will  them  strengthen." 

The  book  came  out  in  1640,  and  was  well  received. 
It  was  revised  by  Mr.  Dunster,  and  received  the  addi- 
tion of  "  spiritual  songs."  It  passed  through  seventy 
editions,  and  was  used  extensively  in  Great  Britain, 
especially  in  Scotland.  It  was  in  use  in  some  of  our 
churches  until  after  the  Bevolution.  It  was  entitled 
"  The  Bay  Psalm  Book,"  and  afterwards,  "  The  New 
England  Version  of  the  Psalms."  In  order  to  compare 
it  with  the  work  which  it  displaced,  I  give  a  part  of 
the  Twenty-third  Psalm,  first  in  the  version  of  Stern- 
hold  and  Hopkins :  — 

"  My  Shepheard  is  the  living  Lord, 

Nothing  therefore  I  neede  ; 
In  pastures  faire,  with  waters  calme 

he  sets  me  for  to  feede. 
He  did  convert  and  glad  my  soule, 

and  brought  my  mind  in  frame  ; 
To  walke  in  paths  of  righteousnesse, 

for  his  most  holy  name." 


44  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

This  is  from  the  new  book  :  — 

"  The  Lord  to  niee  a  Shepheard  is, 

want  therefore  shall  not  I. 
Hee  in  the  folds  of  tender-grasse, 

doth  cause  mee  downe  to  lie  : 
To  waters  calme  nie  gently  leads 

Restore  my  soule  doth  hee  : 
he  doth  in  paths  of  righteousnes 

for  his  names  sake  lead  mee." 

It  is  pleasant  to  linger  upon  the  customs  of  our 
fathers,  but  the  sands  warn  me  that  your  patience  must 
be  run  out.  These  glimpses  will  show  something  of  the 
life  that  was  once  going  on  here  where  we  are  living. 
These  usages-  seem  strange,  sometimes  uncouth  to  us  ; 
but  if  we  had  been  born  into  them  it  would  have  been 
different.  They  may  suit  our  taste  now  hardly  better 
than  the  garments  of  our  ancestors ;  but  they  were 
fashionable  and  natural  once.  They  must  be  estimated 
in  their  surroundings ;  judged  in  their  relation  to  those 
who  employed  them.  Yet  it  is  good  to  think  that  if 
those  sturdy  men  should  enter  this  house  to-day, 
they  would  find  the  same  simplicity  of  worship  which 
they  left ;  that  the  early  ministers  might  resume  their 
place  and  seem  little  strange  in  it.  No  institution 
binds  us  more  closely  to  our  past  than  our  congrega- 
tional churches  and  modes  of  worship.  In  thinking  of 
the  ancient  times,  let  us  keep  it  in  mind  that  the  ruling 
spirits  here  were  men,  gentlemen,  scholars  ;  not  boors 
nor  bigots.  Newtown  had  her  share  of  the  choice  wheat 
which  came  from  the  sifting  of  a  whole  nation.  We 
see  this  in  the  names  we  have  read  to-night,  and  it  will 
continually  appear  as  we  pursue  this  story.  They  were 
men  determined  in  character,  in  opinion,  in  conduct. 
These  New  England  colonists  differed  from  those  who 


LECTURE  II.  45 

had  sought  other  places  in  that,  contrary  to  the  vain 
experiments  of  the  preceding  century,  the  women  came 
with  the  men,  and  homes  were  established  with  all 
their  security  and  influence.  It  is  partly  because  we 
see  so  little  of  the  home  life,  of  the  lighter  side  of  the 
men,  that  they  look  to  us  austere.  They  had  little 
time  or  taste  for  idle  sport ;  but  they  had  comfort  in  a 
strange  land,  and  found  enjoyment  in  their  rugged  path. 
It  is  the  solid  part  of  their  character  and  work  which 
has  remained  ;  their  graces  and  adornments  have  been 
lost.  We  see  their  face  in  repose,  or  in  work,  after  the 
smile  has  passed  away.  But  men  smiled,  children  played; 
they  were  married  and  given  in  marriage  ;  and  here  and 
there  the  wilderness  blossomed  with  the  rose.  We  talk 
of  amusements ;  some  may  fancy  those  were  dreary 
years  which  lacked  the  modern  improvements  for  wast- 
ing time,  and  trifling  with  these  years  of  trial.  They 
might  have  done  differently.  The  money  they  put  into 
Harvard  College  would  have  furnished  public  sports  for 
a  small  portion  of  the  year.  Would  it  have  been  better 
spent  ?  These  men  knew  literature.  Shakespeare  died 
in  1616,  and  possibly  some  of  these  men  had  seen  him 
face  to  face.  Lord  Bacon  died  in  1626.  Our  fathers 
stood  close  to  them.  They  believed  in  learning  and 
goodness.  They  had  confidence  in  men  who  had  studied, 
thought,  wrought.  They  had  confidence  in  such  men  as 
Thomas  Shepard  and  Henry  Dunster  and  Elijah  Corlet 
and  Samuel  Green,  for  the  conservators  and  promoters  of 
intelligence  and  piety.  King  James  passed  the  manor- 
house  of  Scrooby  on  one  of  his  hunting  days.  He 
thought  lie  should  like  to  buy  the  place.  Every  Sab- 
bath, at  that  time,  there  gathered  a  company  of  plain 
men  and  women  under  that  roof.     They  met  to  pray 


46  FIRST   CHURCH  IN   CAMBRIDGE 

and  worship  God.  Who  has  lived,  —  James,  the  royal 
hunter,  or  Brewster,  the  Separatist  worshipper  ?  What  is 
a  royal  palace  beside  Plymouth  Eock  ?  Not  the  employ- 
ments of  idleness  and  recklessness,  but  the  pulpit,  the 
school-room,  the  printing-press,  were  to  make  the  state. 
They  did  make  it.  We  should  choose  such  men,  and 
not  others,  to  make  a  state  again.  There  was  spirit 
here  and  life,  unrepressed,  exuberant.  The  woods  and 
streams  offered  recreation  to  the  boys  when  their  tasks 
were  done.  The  girls  had  their  quiet  enjoyment  in  the 
safety  of  their  homes,  in  the  companionship  of  their  best 
friends.  Morality  was  abroad  in  the  earth.  "  One  may 
live  there  from  year  to  year,  and  not  see  a  drunkard, 
hear  an  oath,  or  meet  a  beggar,"  wrote  the  author  of 
"  New  England's  First  Fruits."  They  built  houses, 
churches,  schools,  colleges.  They  took  pains  to  get  good 
citizens  and  to  keep  them  good.  In  this  practical  age, 
it  should  be  some  honor  that  they  succeeded  in  their 
undertaking.  The  Congregational  Church  held  the  germ 
of  the  nation.  The  devotion,  intelligence,  religion  of 
these  Puritans  have  given  us  our  glory,  which  must  be 
preserved  through  the  like  virtues  in  these  later  days. 
We  go  back  to  them,  and  they  are  gathering  in  their 
rude  meeting-house,  they  are  bending  over  their  Bible, 
they  are  bowing  the  knee  at  the  mercy-seat  of  God. 
Behind  them  is  their  Father  and  ours.  His  is  the  wis- 
dom, his  the  might,  his  the  success.  For  his  right  hand 
and  arm,  and  the  light  of  his  countenance,  gave  pros- 
perity, because  he  had  a  favor  unto  them. 


LECTUEE    III. 

"There  is  a  river,  the  streams  whereof  shall  make  glad  the 
city  of  God,  the  holy  place  of  the  tabernacles  of  the  Most 
High."  —  Psalm  xlvi.  4. 

THE  two  things  in  history  which  preserve  the  reign 
of  James  from  contempt  are  the  translation  of 
the  Bible  and  the  settlement  of  America.  And  I  can 
give  no  better  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  history 
has  been  written  in  the  past,  than  by  saying  that  in  the 
two  great  English  histories  of  this  reign  the  translation 
of  the  Bible  is  not  so  much  as  mentioned,  and  that 
Lingard  does  not  give  a  word  to  the  planting  of  America. 
Hume  only  squeezes  out  for  it  a  wretched  page."  These 
remarks  of  a  recent  writer  remind  us  how  easy  it  is  to 
overlook  the  grand  glories  of  any  time,  the  great  causes 
which  are  moving  quietly  forward  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  results  which  shall  compel  the  notice  and 
admiration  of  the  world.  That  to  a  mind  blinded  or 
prejudiced,  the  large  and  small  affairs  of  kings  and  courts, 
the  changes  in  material  and  political  interests,  are  likely 
to  be  more  attractive,  and  seem  more  important,  than 
the  deep  principles  of  religion  and  liberty,  the  unob- 
trusive movements  which  immediately  concern  the 
kingdom  of  God.  It  is  a  happy  fact  in  our  own 
national  history,  that  it  can  never  be  dissevered  from  its 
sources,  —  from  the  fear  of  God,  the  regard  for  truth 
and  purity,  the  determination  to  have  a  free  church  with 
a  free  worship.      Our  history  can  never   be   profane, 


48  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

secular.  He  who  writes  of  the  state  writes  of  the 
church.  In  idea,  in  the  order  of  events,  the  State  House 
is  within  the  meeting-house.  Men's  motives  and  deeds 
are  directly  related  to  their  religion.  "  It  concerneth 
New  England  always  to  remember,"  said  the  venerable 
Higginson  of  Salem,  "  that  they  are  originally  a  planta- 
tion religious,  not  a  plantation  of  trade If   any 

man  among  us  make  religion  as  twelve  and  the  world 
as  thirteen,  such  an  one  hath  not  the  spirit  of  a  true 
New  England  man." 

It  is  plain,  therefore,  why  it  is  that  he  who  attempts 
to  follow  out  the  life  of  our  early  churches,  especially  of 
one  which,  from  its  location  and  the  character  of  its 
membership,  was  as  influential  as  this  whose  narrative 
we  are  reading  together,  is  continually  led  beyond  the 
local  church,  and  compelled  to  treat  of  affairs  which 
move  in  larger  circles.  Matters  of  colonial  politics,  of 
the  higher  education,  of  missionary  work,  of  ecclesias- 
tical government,  come  before  us  to-day,  even  in  the 
brief  period  of  our  history  which  we  are  to  survey.  For 
these  to  a  large  extent  centred  here,  and  from  this 
place  went  forth  an  influence  to  be  long  and  widely  felt. 
The  colonies  flourished,  passed  on  into  an  independent 
national  existence,  and  have  gained  the  foremost  place 
among  the  nations.  We  are  at  no  loss  to  find  the  cause 
of  this  stability  and  advancement.  There  has  been  a 
river,  —  the  stream  of  piety,  of  devotion,  of  regard  for 
religious  liberty,  of  zeal  for  the  greatest  good  of  man, — 
there  has  been  a  river,  the  streams  whereof  have  made 
glad  the  city  of  God.  While  we  rejoice  in  the  verdure 
and  luxuriance  which  surround  us,  the  streams  have 
been  found  full  of  water,  and  have  flowed  for  the  en- 
richment of  the  land.     We  will  not  forget  them.     Shall 


LECTURE  III.  49 

we  not  deepen  and  widen  their  channels,  that  they  may 
flow  over  our  spreading  domain,  till  the  fruitfulness 
which  gladdens  us  shall  make  the  whole  land  rejoice  ? 

We  have  already  witnessed  the  formation  of  this 
church  and  marked  the  installation  of  Thomas  Shepard, 
its  first  minister.  That  was  in  1636.  Of  the  number 
of  those  who  united  in  the  church  we  can  give  only  a 
conjecture.  There  were  about  sixty  persons  in  Shepard's 
company.  Our  new  church  manual  will  give  the  names 
of  fifty-seven  persons  who  are  presumed  to  have  been 
members  of  the  church  during  the  first  year.  The 
original  design  of  the  company  was  to  remain  here  for  a 
time,  while  they  could  look  about  them  and  find  a  more 
favorable  place  in  which  to  make  their  permanent  set- 
tlement. Their  desire  to  tarry  was  furthered  by  the 
opportunity  to  purchase  the  buildings  of  Hooker's 
company.  But  it  was  soon  manifest  to*  the  majority 
that  it  was  best  to  remain  here  permanently.  They 
found  ample  means  of  subsistence  ;  they  remembered 
that  their  lives  were  short,  and  that  removals  to  new 
plantations  were  full  of  troubles ;  and  they  prized  the 
fellowship  of  the  churches,  a  novelty  and  refreshment 
in  the  wilderness.  Hence  the  church  was  organized. 
The  hand  of  Providence  is  seen  in  bringing  them  hither 
at  the  very  time  when  houses  waited  for  them,  and  in 
keeping  them  here  where  their  influence  would  be  so 
widely  felt. 

Mr.  Shepard,  at  the  time  of  his  installation,  was  thirty 
years  old.  He  is  described  by  a  contemporary  as  a 
"weak,  pale-complexioned  man."  He  was  a  man  of 
unusual  talent,  of  liberal  learning  and  deep  piety.  His 
own  character  had  been  matured  in  the  trials  and  toils 
of  his  earlier  life.     He  was  well  suited  to  the  new  labors 

4 


50  FIRST   CHURCH  IN   CAMBRIDGE. 

to  which  he  was  called,  and  well  fitted  to  enjoy  the 
repose  and  freedom  of  the  new  world  where  he  had 
sought  a  refuge  and  a  work.  We  shall  find  this  promise 
of  the  beginning  abundantly  fulfilled.  His  ministry 
began  with  sorrow  in  his  own  house.  The  health  of  his 
wife  had  been  failing  for  some  time.  The  exposure  to 
which  she  was  subjected,  and  the  care  of  her  feeble  and 
froward  child,  during  the  long,  stormy  voyage  from 
England,  exhausted  her  strength,  and  she  soon  passed 
into  a  consumption,  and  was  taken  from  the  world.  But 
before  her  departure  she  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
her  husband  settled  in  a  safe  place,  of  being  herself 
received  to  membership  in  his  church,  and  of  having 
her  child  baptized.  The  account  which  Mr.  Shepard 
gives  of  her  admission  to  the  church  upon  the  day  of  its 
formation  is  one  of  the  most  touching  passages  in  the 
annals  of  the  time.  After  the  public  services  of  the  day 
were  ended,  "we  came,"  he  says,  "to  her  chamber,  she 
beine  unable  to  come  unto  us.  And  because  we  feared 
that  her  end  was  not  far  off,  we  did  solemnly  ask  her  if 
she  was  desirous  to  be  a  member  with  us,  which  she 
expressing,  and  so  entering  into  covenant  with  us,  we 
thereupon  all  took  her  by  the  hand,  and  received  her  as 
became  one  with  us,  having  had  full  trial  and  experi- 
ence of  her  faith  and  life  before.  At  this  time  and 
by  this  means  the  Lord  did  not  only  show  us  the  worth 
of  this  ordinance,  but  gave  us  a  seal  of  his  acceptance  of 
us  and  of  his  presence  with  us  that  day ;  for  the  Lord 
hereby  filled  her  heart  with  such  unspeakable  joy  and 
assurance  of  God's  love,  that  she  said  to  us  she  had 
enough ;  and  we  were  afraid  that  her  feeble  body  would 
have  at  that  time  sunk  under  the  weight  of  her  joy." 
"  A  fortnight  after  which,"  he  writes  in  another  place, 


LECTURE  III.  51 

"  my  deare  wife  Margaret  dyed."  She  was  "  exceedingly 
cheered  and  comforted  with  the  sense  of  God's  love, 
which  continued  until  her  last  gaspe,"  and  with  resigna- 
tion and  hope  she  entered  upon  her  rest.  But  though 
she  died  so  early,  she  deserves  to  be  held  in  high  esteem. 
Wherever  her  husband  is  praised  she  shall  be  tenderly 
remembered.  As  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Shepard  first  met 
her  in  Yorkshire,  at  the  house  of  Sir  Richard  Darley, 
where  he  served  as  chaplain.  She  was  then  Margaret 
Tauteville,  the  kinswoman  of  the  knight.  She  be- 
friended the  homesick,  persecuted  young  man,  in  a 
strange  house,  in  a  family  where  he  could  expect  little 
sympathy.  The  labors  of  Shepard  there  produced  good 
results.  He  found  favor  and  friends.  "When  the  Lord 
had  fitted  a  wife  for  me  he  then  gave  me  her,  who  was 
a  most  sweet,  humble  woman,  full  of  Christ,  and  a  very 
discerning  Christian ;  a  wife  who  was  most  incom- 
parably loving  to  me  and  every  way  amiable  and  holy, 
and  endued  with  a  very  sweet  spirit  of  prayer."  The 
family  consented  to  the  alliance,  and  even  enlarged  the 
portion  of  the  bride.  "  Thus  did  I  marry  the  best  and 
fittest  woman  in  the  world  unto  me."  The  marriage 
was  in  1632.  The  wife  was  unwilling  to  remain  at 
Buttercrambe,  and  they  set  out,  not  knowing  where 
their  home  would  be.  They  shared  their  fears  and 
faced  their  enemies  together.  The  hunted  minister  had 
a  true  helpmeet.  She  went  witli  him  through  his  perils 
and  privations  on  the  land  and  on  the  sea.  Her  faith 
and  hope  reached  out  to  the  land  beyond  the  wide 
waters.  It  has  already  been  given  as  one  reason  which 
moved  him  to  come  to  New  England,  at  the  time  he 
made  the  first  attempt,  that  "  my  dear  wife  did  much 
long  to  see  me  settled  there  in  peace,  and  so  put  me  on 


52  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE 

to  it."  Within  a  fortnight  after  the  formation  of  the 
church  she  left  him  desolate.  But  her  influence  for  the 
four  years  of  her  wedded  life  was  marked.  The  distrust- 
ful, cautious  man  needed  one  who  excelled  him  in 
courage  and  enterprise.  "Wise  enough  to  appreciate  her 
position  and  be  content  with  it,  she  was  aide  by  her 
faith  and  her  affection  to  incite  him  to  bold  purposes. 
She  was  given  to  him  at  the  time  when  he  needed  her 
the  most  for  the  determining  of  his  career,  and  when 
that  work  was  done  she  had  rest.  But  let  her  memory 
be  honored.  We  delight  to  write  the  name  of  our  first 
minister  wherever  we  can.  The  society  to  which  the 
church  is  united  is  called  after  him,  and  many  of  our 
works  of  benevolence  have  been  done  under  his  name. 
The  granite  column  we  have  reared  bears  it  to  pos- 
terity. It  will  be  on  the  mural  tablet  in  our  new 
sanctuary.  It  is  well.  Shall  there  not  be  found'  some 
conspicuous  place  on  which  we  can  gratefully  inscribe 
"  Margaret  Shepard  "  ? 

From  this  domestic  life  we  pass  among  more  exciting 
scenes.  At  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  church, 
trouble  had  already  begun  in  connection  with  that  rest- 
less and  resolute  woman  whose  name  is  "dismally 
conspicuous  in  the  early  history  of  New  England."  Mrs. 
Ann  Hutchinson  had  been  attracted  from  England  by 
her  desire  to  continue  to  enjoy  the  preaching  of  Mr. 
Cotton.  Her  husband,  who  had  left  a  good  estate  in 
Lincolnshire,  is  described  as  "  a  man  of  a  very  mild 
temper  and  weak  parts,  and  wholly  guided  by  his  wife." 
She  was  destined  to  encounter  some  who  would  be  less 
submissive  to  her  control.  They  came  in  the  fall  of 
1634,  and  she  soon  showed  herself  a  kind  neighbor, 
especially  to  the  sick,  and  won  the  esteem  of  the  people, 


LECTURE  III.  53 

over  whom  her  attentions  and  talents  gave  her  influence. 
She  became  connected  with  the  Boston  Church,  and 
soon  avowed  doctrines  at  variance  with  those  commonly 
held  here.  Winthrop  mentions  two  dangerous  errors 
which  she  brought  with  her :  "  first,  that  the  person  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  dwells  in  a  justified  person  ;  second,  that  no 
sanctification  can  help  to  evidence  to  us  our  justifica- 
tion. From  these  errors  grew  many  branches."  Her 
fundamental  idea  was,  that  a  person  is  not  to  find 
evidence  of  his  being  a  Christian  in  any  changes  in  him- 
self, or  any  grace  or  holiness  he  may  possess,  or  in  the 
conditional  promises  made  to  such  as  believe,  but  in  an 
immediate  revelation  made  to  his  own  soul.  To  receive 
this  doctrine  was  to  be  under  a  "  covenant  of  grace." 
To  depend  upon  other  evidence  was  to  be  under  a  "  cov- 
enant of  works."  Under  these  two  designations  Chris- 
tians became  divided.  The  party  which  she  headed  were 
known  as  "  Familists,"  from  a  short-lived  sect  which 
sprang  up  in  Leyden  in  the  preceding  century,  and  held 
that  the  essence  of  religion  consists  in  the  sense  of 
Divine  love.  They  were  also  called  "  Antinomians," 
which  was  likewise  a  borrowed  name  taken  from  a  sect 
.  formed  a  hundred  years  before,  which  denied  the  obliga- 
tion to  observe  the  law  under  the  gospel  dispensation. 

Error  is  commonly  some  perversion  of  truth.  We  are, 
indeed,  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace  ;  yet  grace 
has  its  law.  "  These  things  I  command  you,"  said  our 
Saviour,  Christ.  His  service  is  perfect  freedom ;  but 
even  in  that  "  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us."  We 
are  not  freed  from  the  obedience  of  the  moral  law  ;  but 
we  are  not  left  to  the  consecpiences  of  our  neglect,  seeing 
that  the  grace  of  Christ  comes  in  to  atone  for  our  sin  ; 
so  that,  hopelessly  lost  through  our  works,  we  are  saved 


54  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

through  his  grace.  We  are,  truly,  not  justified  by  works, 
and  virtue  is  not  proof  of  piety,  manliness  of  godli- 
ness. Still,  a  man's  works  are  a  testimony  to  his 
character,  and  will  always  be  held  as  witnesses  to  the 
sincerity  of  his  profession.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  them."  The  children  of  God  have  the  witness  in 
themselves,  his  Spirit  working  in  their  spirits,  and  the 
last  witness  to  one's  piety  must  be  sought  in  his  con- 
sciousness ;  but  consciousness  will  take  account  of  his 
grace  and  growth  and  life.  It  will  be  fatal  to  our  hope 
of  salvation  to  rest  upon  that  which  we  can  do  or  that 
which  we  feel.  It  is  the  free  choice  of  God  which  saves 
us ;  his  independent,  sovereign  working.  Yet  we  are 
called  upon  to  work  out  our  own  salvation,  to  behold 
the  Lamb  of  God,  to  believe  the  gospel  which  is 
preached.  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be 
saved."  There  is  a  beautiful  harmony  between  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  faith  of  man.  Always  will  the 
Christian  render  the  full  praise  of  his  redemption  unto 
God,  who  loved  the  world  and  gave  his  Son.  It  will  be 
the  rejoicing  of  heaven. 

To  her  imperfect,  perverted  views  of  great  truths  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  attached  great  importance.  Gathering 
weekly  assemblies  of  women,  she  expounded  her  views 
and  denounced  the  ministers,  wTith  the  exception  of  'tier 
brother-in-law,  Wheelwright,  and  Cotton,  who  seemed 
for  a  time  to  favor  her,  being  impressed  with  her  piety 
and  ability,  but  afterwards  came  to  see  the  false  ground 
upon  which  she  was  standing.  Her  opinions  spread  with 
amazing 'rapidity.  Dr.  Albro  has  characterized  them  as 
"  absurd,  licentious,  and  destructive  "  ;  adding,  "  where- 
ever  they  took*  root  they  produced  the  bitter  fruits  of 
alienation,  hatred,  and  slander."     The  ministers  were 


LECTURE  III.  55 

openly  ridiculed,  and  ignorant  men  and  women  were 
put  forward  as  preachers,  with  the  boast  that  they  could 
excel  the  "  black  coats  "  who  had  been  trained  at  the 
"  Ninneversity."  Churches  and  families  became  divided. 
Old  friends  were  separated  and  made  enemies.  Many 
Christians  wavered,  uncertain  with  which  party  to  side. 
All  the  associations  of  common  life  became  infected 
with  the  disputes.  Even  the  marching  of  troops,  which 
had  been  raised  to  assist  Connecticut  against  the  Indians, 
was  opposed  on  "  the  ground  that  the  officers  and  soldiers 
were  too  much  under  a  covenant  of  works."  To  under- 
stand how  so  great  a  commotion  could  come  from  so 
small  a  cause,  it  is  only  needful  to  remember  how  in- 
timately religious  ideas  were  connected  with  all  affairs. 
The  churches,  the  clergy,  the  doctrines,  were  the  most 
substantial  interests  of  men.  To  question  a  man's  or- 
thodoxy was  to  question  his  character.  As  well  call 
him  a  knave  outright  as  pronounce  him  under  a  "  cov- 
enant of  works."  The  dissension  was  really  fearful. 
English  congregations  in  Holland  had  fairly  gone  to 
pieces  by  falling  upon  similar  contentions.  There  was 
the  greatest  peril  that  the  colony  would  be  wrecked  in 
this  war  of  the  elements,  among  these  frowning  rocks. 
The  churches  and  towns  in  the  country,  for  the  most 
part,  were  opposed  to  this  troublesome  woman.  The 
church  in  Boston  was  in  her  favor,  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  members,  among  whom  were  the  pastor,  Wilson, 
and  Winthrop,  who  in  1636  was  deputy-governor  under 
Vane,  who  was  a  partisan  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson.  A  meet- 
ing of  magistrates  and  elders  was  held  to  devise  a  way  of 
quieting  the  disturbance.  Wilson  laid  the  blame  where 
it  belonged,  for  which  he  was  reproved  by  his  church. 
At  length  a  fast  was  appointed  on  account  of  these  and 


56  FIRST   CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

other  troubles,  but  this  evil  was  not  put  down.  Wheel- 
wright and  one  Greensmith  were  reckoned  with  for 
their  seditious  language,  and  this  enraged  their  friends 
and  provoked  resistance.  Boston  was  in  so  great  con- 
fusion that  the  General  Court  met  here.  An  election 
was  held  on  our  Common,  and  Winthrop  was  chosen 
governor.  There  were  many  fierce  speeches  and  some 
threatening  deeds.  The  venerable  Wilson  is  said  to 
have  spoken  from  a  tree  into  which  he  had  climbed. 
Vane  soon  after  returned  to  England,  and  one  element 
of  the  strife  was  removed.  There  was  warm  discussion 
which  tended  towards  a  settlement.  The  real  points  of 
difference  among  the  people  were  found  to  be  small. 
The  preaching  of  Mr.  Shepard  on  the  day  of  election 
contributed  to  this  result.  Matters  seemed  in  so  prom- 
ising condition,  that  the  ministers,  with  the  consent  of 
the  magistrates,  called  an  ecclesiastical  synod.  It  was 
composed  of  the  ministers  and  messengers  of  all  the 
churches,  with  a  few  who  had  recently  arrived  in  the 
country.  It  was  the  first  synod  held  in  America,  and  it 
met  with  this  church  of  ours.  The  General  Court  ad- 
journed on  account  of  this  convention.  This  was  in 
1637. 

I  must  leave  it  to  your  imagination  to  reproduce  that 
grave  and  reverend  assembly  which  convened  in  the 
humble  meeting-house  in  Dunster  Street.  It  is  fitting 
to  mark  this  beginning  of  such  assemblies,  and  to  con- 
nect it  with  our  own  church.  It  was  not  the  last  great 
and  good  thing  which  began  here,  as  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  see.  Mr.  Shepard  opened  the  first  session 
with  a  "  heavenly  prayer."  Mr.  Hooker  of  Hartford  and 
Mr.  Bulkeley  of  Concord  were  the  moderators.  The 
sessions  continued  for   three  weeks,  with  freedom  of 


LECTURE  III.  57 

speech,  but  with  due  regard  for  propriety  and  order. 
Eighty-two  opinions  were  condemned  with  great  una- 
nimity. The  peculiar  views  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her 
adherents  were  among  them.  Certain  questions  of 
church  discipline  which  had  arisen  were  decided,  and 
matters  were  carried  on  peaceably  and  "  concluded 
comfortably  in  all  love."  Mr.  Shepard  says,  "These 
errors,  through  the  grace  and  power  of  Christ,  were  dis- 
covered, the  defenders  of  them  convinced  and  ashamed, 
the  truth  established,  and  the  consciences  of  the  saints 
settled,  there  being  a  most  wonderful  presence  of 
Christ's  spirit  in  that  assembly  held  at  Cambridge."  He 
mentions  as  one  result  of  the  synod  the  discomfiture  of 
the  Pequot  Indians.  For,  as  the  internal  dissensions 
flourished,  wars  from  without  had  opportunity  to  arise, 
and  these  were  quelled  by  the  restoration  of  harmony 
among  the  people.  It  was  found  necessary  to  send 
away  a  very  few  persons  who  had  been  prominent  in 
the  disturbances.  Mrs.  Hutchinson  herself  was  tried 
before  the  General  Court,  for  railing  at  the  ministers 
and  continuing  her  lectures  in  defiance  of  the  synod. 
A  sentence  of  banishment  was  passed,  but  as  it  was 
winter  she  was  committed  to  a  private  house  in  Eox- 
bury.  Her  conversation  there  was  so  offensive,  that 
the  church  in  Boston  cited  her  to  appear  and  answer  to 
the  charge  of  holding  gross  errors.  The  result  was  her 
retraction  of  a  part  of  her  declaration,  and  an  admonition 
by  the  church,  inasmuch  as  she  persisted  in  holding 
others.  She  was  then  allowed  to  be  at  Mr.  Cotton's 
house,  that  he  and  Mr.  Davenport  might  reason  with 
her.  She  retracted  all  the  opinions  imputed  to  her,  and 
went  so  far  as  to  say  she  had  never  held  them.  A 
question  of  veracity  was  raised  and  decided  against  her, 


58  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

and  she  was  excommunicated  for  having  "  impudently- 
persisted  in  untruth."  This  was  the  end  of  her  power 
and  her  party  here.  She  was  ordered  by  the  governor 
to  depart  from  this  jurisdiction,  which  she  did.  Some 
of  her  adherents  dispersed  in  different  directions.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  trace  her  fortunes  farther.  Her  after- 
life was  troubled  and  troublesome.  She  became  a 
widow,  and  finally  moved  to  a  place  within  or  near 
the  Dutch  border,  where  the  whole  family,  except  a 
daughter  of  eight  years,  were  murdered  by  the  Indians. 
Her  stormy  life  had  a  stormy  close.  But  after  her 
departure  from  Massachusetts  a  long  period  of  tran- 
quillity was  enjoyed  here. 

Thus  early  were  this  church  and  its  minister  brought 
to  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith,  for  the  purity  and 
quiet  which  they  had  sought  in  exile  and  privation. 
The  prayers  and  thoughts  and  conversation  of  the 
people  who  walked  our  ancient  streets,  the  preaching  of 
the  youthful  but  experienced  minister,  must  have  had 
large  reference  to  the  scenes  we  have  been  hurrying 
through.  But  Mr.  Shepard  gratefully  acknowledges 
that  this  town  "  was  kept  spotless  from  the  contagion 
of  the  opinions."  A  course  of  lectures  which  he  preached 
during  and  after  these  times,  based  upon  the  Parable  of 
the  Ten  Virgins,  we  are  permitted  to  read,  adding  to  their 
intrinsic  interest  by  transferring  them  to  the  days 
which  called  them  forth. 

It  is  pleasant  to  turn  from  these  conflicts  to  more 
peaceful  events.  The  early  settlers  of  New  England 
were  men  who  knew  the  value  of  education.  Many  of 
them  were  graduates  of  the  English  universities,  and 
were  possessed  of  the  best  learning  of  their  day. 
They  knew  that  the  well-being  of  the*  state,  and  the 


LECTURE  III.  59 

purity  and  stability  of  the  church,  demanded  that 
the  people  should  be  educated,  and  that  learned  men 
should  be  raised  up  to  take  the  place  of  those  who  were 
passing  away.  Hence,  in  1636,  later  in  the  year  of  our 
church  organization,  the  General  Court  adopted  this 
order :  "  The  Court  agree  to  give  four  hundred  pounds 
towards  a  school  or  college,  whereof  two  hundred  pounds 
shall  be  paid  the  next  year,  and  two  hundred  pounds 
when  the  work  is  finished,  and  the  next  Court  to  appoint 
where  and  what  building."  Four  hundred  pounds  was 
"  equal  to  a  year's  rate  of  the  whole  colony."  It  was  a 
grant  of  fifty  cents  from  each  of  the  four  thousand 
inhabitants.  A  like  assessment  now  would  yield  more 
than  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  next  year 
it  was  ordered  that  the  College  should  be  at  Newtown. 
Why  did  they  choose  to  come  here  ?  Two  reasons  led 
to  this  choice  :  this  was  "  a  place  very  pleasant  and 
accommodate,"  and  it  was  "  under  the  orthodox  and 
soul- flourishing  ministry  of  Mr.  Thomas  Shepheard." 
Twelve  of  the  leading  men  of  the  colony  were  appointed 
to  take  orders  for  the  College.  Among  these  were 
Shepard,  Cotton,  Wilson,  Harlakenden,  Stoughton,  Dud- 
ley, Winthrop.  Thus  did  the  College  come  at  once  under 
the  fostering  care  of  this  church  and  its  minister.  Side 
by  side  have  they  come  down  the  years  ;  side  by  side  are 
they  going  into  the  future.  In  the  following  year  the  Rev. 
John  Harvard  died,  becpieathing  one  half  of  his  whole 
property  and  his  entire  library  to  the  youthful  institu- 
tion. The  amount  of  his  gifts  was  a  little  less  than  eight 
hundred  pounds.  His  library  consisted  of  three  hundred 
and  twenty  volumes  of  theological,  classical,  and  general 
literature.  Others  followed  with  gifts  of  money  and 
books  and  various  articles,  according  to  their  ability.  In 


60  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

this  year,  1638,  the  regular  course  of  studies  began.  In 
the  same  year  the  Dame  of  Cambridge  was  given  to  the 
town,  after  the  literary  home  of  many  of  the  chief  men 
of  the  colony.  In  the  following  spring  it  was  ordered 
that  the  College  should  bear  the  name  of  Harvard.  In 
the  next  year,  by  order  of  the  Court,  "  the  ferry  be- 
tween Boston  and  Charlestown  is  granted  to  the 
College." 

The  institution  was  first  placed  under  the  charge  of 
Nathaniel  Eaton,  who  managed  both  the  instruction 
and  the  finances.  He  made  so  good  a  beginning  that 
in  1639  he  received  a  grant  of  five  hundred  acres  of 
land,  upon  condition  that  he  would  continue  his  employ- 
ment for  life.  Then,  for  his  fame's  sake,  he  should  have 
died.  He  was  a  scholar,  doubtless,  but  had  no  other 
qualification  for  his  office.  He  seems  to  have  been 
extravagant  in  his  use  of  the  funds.  Besides  that,  he 
abused  his  scholars  and  his  usher,  Briscoe,  and  in  con- 
nection with  his  wife  brought  college  commons  to  their 
lowest  state.  He  was  tried  by  the  Court,  and  convicted 
of  passion  and  negligence  and  cruelty ;  was  fined  and 
dismissed  from  his  place ;  was  excommunicated  from 
the  church,  and  compelled  to  leave  the  colony.  He 
returned  to  England,  became  the  persecutor  of  Noncdn- 
formists,  and  finally  died  while  in  prison  for  debt.  Mr. 
Shepard  was  charitably  inclined  towards  his  parishioner, 
but  before  long  was  convinced  of  his  real  character,  and 
approved  of  his  sentence.  It  is  characteristic  of  the 
good  minister  that  he  mourned  not  only  over  the  sin  of 
Eaton,  but  also  on  account  of  his  own  ignorance  and  want 
of  wisdom  and  watchfulness  over  him.  Upon  Eaton's 
discharge,  the  business  affairs  of  the  College  were  put 
into  the  hands  of  Samuel  Shepard,  who   attended   to 


LECTURE  III.  61 

them  until  the  arrival  of  Henry  Dunster,  who  became 
President  in  1640.  Eaton  had  been  known  only  as 
Master  or  Professor.  From  that  time  the  College 
steadily  advanced.  In  1642  the  Board  of  Overseers 
was  established.  Besides  the  governor,  deputy-gov- 
ernor, and  magistrates,  it  consisted  of  the  teaching  elders 
of  the  six  next  adjoining  towns,  Cambridge,  Watertown, 
Charlestown,  Boston,  Eoxbury,  and  Dorchester.  The 
influence  of  our  minister,  both  from  his  official  connec- 
tion with  the  College  and  his  personal  character,  must 
have  been  considerable.  We  find  him  at  one  time 
addressing  a  memorial  to  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies,  asking  a  general  contribution  for  the 
maintenance  of  poor  scholars,  to  the  end  "  that  the 
Commonwealth  may  be  furnished  with  knowing  and 
understanding  men,  and  the  churches  with  an  able 
ministry."  He  begs  that  it  may  be  recommended  to 
every  family  throughout  the  plantations,  able  and 
willing  to  give,  to  contribute  a  fourth  part  of  a  bushel 
of  com,  or  something  equivalent  to  this,  as  "  a  blessed 
means  of  comfortable  provision  for  the  diet  of  such 
students  as  stand  in  need  of  support."  The  plan  was 
approved  and  adopted.  This  may  illustrate  his  interest 
in  the  College  and  his  efforts  to  promote  its  high 
objects.  It  was  the  first  charitable  provision  made  in 
New  England  for  the  benefit  of  indigent  scholars.  It 
is  good  to  connect  the  beginning  of  so  good  a  work 
with  the  name  of  one  we  venerate. 

Our  church  had  another  point  of  connection  with  the 
College  in  its  earliest  days,  through  our  brother,  Elijah 
Corlet,  of  whom  mention  has  already  been  made.  The 
grammar  school  appears  to  have  begun  soon  after  the 
town,  and  it  was  supported  with  great  care.     Mr.  Corlet 


62  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

was  master  for  more  than  forty  years.  The  author  of 
"  New  England's  First  Fruits,"  in  1643,  writes  :  "  By  the 
side  of  the  College  is  a  fair  grammar  school,  for  the 
training  up  of  young  scholars  and  fitting  of  them  for 
academical  learning,  that  still  as  they  are  judged  ripe 
they  may  be  received  into  the  College  of  this  school." 
He  speaks  of  our  brother  as  one  who  had  well  approved 
himself  for  his  abilities  and  dexterity.  Mather  calls 
him  "  that  memorable  old  schoolmaster  in  Cambridge, 
from  whose  education  our  College  and  country  has  re- 
ceived so  many  of  its  worthy  men  that  he  is  himself 
worthy  to  have  his  name  celebrated  in  our  church 
history." 

I  cannot  close  this  notice  of  the  College  without 
repeating  the  familiar  words  which  embody  the  thoughts 
of  Shepard  and  his  associates,  —  words  which  deserve  to 
be  written  in  letters  of  gold  on  the  front  of  the  Univer- 
sity, that  the  youth  of  this  generation  may  know  the 
purpose  of  the  fathers,  and  may  gratefully  execute  it  in 
their  lives.  "  After  God  had  carried  us  safe  to  New 
England,  and  we  had  builded  our  houses,  provided 
necessaries  for  our  livelihood,  reared  convenient  places 
for  God's  worship,  and  settled  the  civil  government, 
one  of  the  next  things  we  longed  for  and  looked  after 
was  to  advance  learning  and  perpetuate  it  to  posterity  ; 
dreading  to  leave  an  illiterate  ministry  to  the  churches, 
when  our  present  ministers  shall  lie  in  the  dust."  The 
College  seal  of  1643  bore  the  motto  "  Veritas,"  which 
was  inscribed  on  three  open  books.  This  was  soon  ex- 
changed for  "  In  Christi  gloriam."  After  a  time  this 
was  changed  to  "  Christo  et  Ecclesiae."  Let  the  spirit  of 
the  College  and  the  lives  of  its  graduates  exhibit  the 
three  legends,  —  standing  upon  the  truth,  seeking  the 
glory  of  Christ,  rendering  good  service  to  his  church. 


LECTURE  III.  63 

It  may  not  seem  to  be  in  close  connection  with  the 
purpose  of  this  discourse,  but  I  am  unwilling  to  bring 
these  remarks  upon  education  to  an  end  without  a  few 
words  of  affection  and  respect  for  the  memory  of  that 
great  teacher  who  one  week  ago  entered  into  his  rest.* 
He  deserves  to  be  honored  wherever  sound  learning  is 
revered.  We  honor  him  for  his  wide  learning,  his 
patient  research,  his  faithful  instruction  ;  for  his  "  im- 
perial memory,"  his  "  massive  judgment,"  his  "resolute 
will " ;  for  his  devotion  to  his  wrork,  his  love  for  the 
institution  he  adorned,  his  kindness  to  all  who  came 
under  his  care ;  for  his  great  heart,  his  unostentatious 
goodness,  his  unsparing  charities.  He  died  at  the 
height  of  his  fame  ;  "  his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his 
natural  force  abated."  He  died  in  the  academy  his  toils 
had  reared.  His  old  boys  took  up  his  stal worth  form 
and  bore  it  to  its  repose  among  the  honored,  sainted 
dead.  His  boys  of  many  years  will  mark  the  spot  with 
the  monumental  column.  But  his  memory  will  be 
green  in  the  hearts  of  his  six  thousand  scholars.  There 
are  those  here  this  morning  who  will  join  me  in  laying 
this  simple  tribute  of  love  and  respect  upon  his  bier. 

In  the  formation  period  we  are  surveying  there  were 
naturally  differences  of  opinion  regarding  various  mat- 
ters of  ecclesiastical  usage.  In  the  year  in  which 
Shepard  was  installed,  some  of  the  Puritan  ministers  of 
England,  hearing  that  the  churches  here  had  adopted 
a  new  mode  of  discipline  of  questionable  expediency, 
addressed  to  them  a  letter  of  inquiry  upon  this  matter. 
The  questions  were  concerning  a  form  of  prayer  and  set 
Liturgy  ;  concerning  proper  subjects  for  infant  baptism 
and  admission  to  the  Lord's  Table  ;  concerning  the  rights 

*  Samuel  H.  Taylor,  LL.D.,  of  Andover. 


64  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

of  the  majority  with  regard  to  excommunication  ;  con- 
cerning the  removal  of  church  members  ;  the  relation  of 
a  minister  to  his  own  church  and  neighboring  churches, 
and  the  relation  of  the  members  of  one  congregation 
to  another.  A  full  discussion  ensued,  in  which  Mr. 
Shepard  bore  a  part,  joining  with  Mr.  Allen  of  Dedham 
in  the  publication  of  a  book  explaining  and  defending 
the  usages  here.  The  work  had  a  good  effect.  It  solved 
various  perplexing  matters,  and  gave  satisfaction  to  the 
English  brethren.  Upon  the  principles  it  expounded 
the  churches  conducted  their  affairs  until  a  more  formal 
constitution  was  adopted.  Before  many  years  had  gone 
by,  it  became  evident  that  a  general  declaration  of  faith 
and  a  plan  of  church  government  were  desirable.  I 
have  alluded  to  these  before,  but  they  should  be  men- 
tioned in  this  connection.  In  1646  the  General  Court 
took  up  the  matter  of  calling  a  synod.  It  was  seen  at 
once  that  it  woidd  be  unwise  for  the  Court  to  do  any- 
thing which  looked  like  imposing  upon  the  churches 
a  form  of  government,  or  even  to  call  a  synod  for  the 
preparation  of  a  system  which  might  seem  to  be  com- 
manded by  authority.  The  point  was  important  and 
delicate.  The  result  was  a  recommendation  that  such 
an  assembly  be  convened.  The  advice  was  acted  upon, 
and  the  synod  met  in  Cambridge  in  the  autumn  of  that 
year,  but,  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  season,  adjourned 
after  a  short  session,  and  on  its  reassembling  again 
adjourned  on  account  of  a  great  sickness  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  country.  It  finally  met  in  the  autumn  of 
1648.  It  was  a  grand  gathering.  There  were  men  who 
had  won  fame  in  the  mother-land.  There  were  scholars, 
patriots,  statesmen,  men  of  prayer,  wisdom,  patience. 
An  old  writer  has  truly  said,  "  They  were  Timothys  in 


LECTURE  III.  65 

their  houses ;  Chrysostoms  in  their  pulpits  ;  Augustines 
in  their  disputations."  They  gave  their  assent  to  the 
Westminster  Confession  for  substance  of  doctrine.  For 
church  polity  they  issued  a  plan  of  their  own,  which  is 
thus  entitled :  "  The  Cambridge  platform  of  church 
discipline,  gathered  out  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  agreed 
upon  by  the  elders  and  messengers  of  the  churches  as- 
sembled in  synod,  1G48."  It  is  a  clear,  comprehensive, 
sagacious  document,  and  upon  its  broad  principles  our 
churches  have  stood  and  become  established  in  beauty 
and  strength.  The  experience  of  two  centuries  has 
taught  us  some  new  things,  and  changed  times  may 
demand  some  incidental  modification  of  the  arrange- 
ments of  our  fathers.  Possibly  another  synod  at 
Cambridge  may  perfect  and  adapt  the  ancient  work. 
In  the  mean  time,  to  borrow  the  words  of  the  late 
lamented  pastor  of  this  church,  "  the  more  closely  we 
adhere  to  the  scheme  of  polity  set  forth  by  that  vener- 
able assembly,  the  more  confidently  may  we  expect  that 
Congregationalism  will  maintain  its  ascendency  in  New 
England,  and  commend  itself  to  the  consciences  and  the 
hearts  of  intelligent  Christians  throughout  our  country." 
But  while  this  church  and  its  minister  were  eno-arjed 
with  others  who  held  the  same  faith  with  the  same 
purpose  in  establishing  the  churches  in  purity  and 
order,  they  were  also  regardful  of  those  around  them 
who  needed  to  learn  the  first  principles  of  the  gospel. 
Our  national  connection  with  the  Indians  is  far  from 
satisfactory.  It  is  well  to  relieve  the  picture  with 
brighter  shades.  The  early  government  and  churches  of 
this  State  were  perhaps  as  zealous  in  their  missionary 
work  as  their  successors.  Foreign  missions  do  not  of 
necessity  involve  the  crossing  of  the  sea.     Preaching 

5 


66  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

was  sustained  among  the  Indians  by  legal  provision. 
Their  rights  were  protected  by  a  special  court.  The 
people  sought  to  be  just  in  their  dealings  with  them. 
The  wars  against  them  were  for  defence.  The  College 
turned  its  attention  to  their  education.  A  building  of 
brick  was  erected  for  their  accommodation  by  the  "  So- 
ciety for  propagating  the  Gospel,"  and  was  known  as 
the  Indian  College.  Although  several  students  entered 
on  a  course  of  study,  but  one  attained  to  academic 
honors.  The  catalogue  for  1665  shows  one  Indian 
graduate.  The  effort  to  train  up  a  native  ministry  for 
the  aborigines  was  a  noble  one,  but  it  proved  ineffectual. 
In  1644  the  General  Court  ordered  that  the  county 
courts  should  take  care  that  the  Indians  residing  in  the 
several  shires  be  civilized,  and  should  have  power  to  take 
order  from  time  to  time  that  they  be  instructed  in  the 
knowledge  and  worship  of  God.  John  Eliot  has  won 
immortality  by  his  labors  for  their  spiritual  good.  In 
his  efforts  he  had  the  counsel  and  assistance  of  Thomas 
Shepard.  The  first  fixed  missionary  station  of  Eliot 
was  in  Cambridge,  at  Nonantum,  now  Newton.  Shepard 
watched  over  the  church  gathered  there.  He  wrote 
tracts  which  were  translated  into  the  Indian  tongue.  A 
long  letter  written  by  him  to  a  friend  in  England  bears 
the  title,  "  The  clear  Sunshine  of  the  Gospel  breaking 
forth  upon  the  Indians  in  New  England."  "  An  Indian 
sermon,"  he  called  it. 

Eliot  had  also  a  faithful  co-laborer  in  our  brother 
Daniel  Gookin.  He  removed  from  Virginia  in  1644, 
and  settled  here,  "  being  drawn  hither  by  having  his 
affection  strongly  set  on  the  truths  of  Christ  and  his 
pure  ordinances."  He  became  the  "  constant,  pious, 
and  persevering   companion   of  Eliot."     He    attained 


LECTURE  III.  67 

to  political  and  military  honors ;  was  made  superin- 
tendent of  all  the  Indians  who  had  submitted  to  the 
government  of  Massachusetts ;  was  one  of  the  licen- 
sers of  the  printing-press ;  in  1681  was  appointed 
major-general  of  the  colony.  He  was  a  man  of  integrity 
and  ability,  and  died  poor  in  this  world's  goods,  but 
having  the  affection  of  those  over  whose  interests  he  had 
watched,  and  the  esteem  of  all  the  people.  A  monument 
was  erected  over  his  grave  in  the  neighboring  church- 
yard.    His  son  was  the  fourth  pastor  of  this  church. 

Eliot's  translation  of  the  Bible  was  printed  here 
by  our  brother  Samuel  Green,  in  connection  with 
Marmaduke  Johnson.  A  copy  handsomely  bound  was 
sent  to  Charles  II.  Baxter  says,  "  Such  a  work  and 
fruit  of  a  plantation  was  never  presented  unto  a  king." 
This  was  the  first  Bible  printed  in  America,  —  another 
of  the  good  things  which  began  here.  It  was  followed 
by  the  publication  of  numerous  works  in  the  Indian 
language.  Let  it  be  remembered  to  the  honor  of  our 
fathers,  that  the  first  Protestant  mission  to  the  heathen 
in  modern  times  began  in  Cambridge  ;  the  first  Protest- 
ant sermon  in  a  heathen  tongue  was  preached  here  ; 
the  first  translation  of  the  Bible  by  an  Englishman  into 
a  heathen  tongue  was  printed  here  ;  the  first  Protestant 
tract  in  a  heathen  language  was  written  and  printed 
here.  In  all  these  missionary  works  we  may  be  sure 
that  the  minister  and  the  members  of  our  church  took  a 
lively  interest  and  had  an  active  part. 

I  have  dwelt,  perhaps  overlong,  upon  matters  of 
public  interest  with  which  our  church  was  concerned. 
It  may  help  to  increase  our  honest  pride  in  our  religious 
ancestry,  and  stimulate  us  to  the  good  works  which  are 
required  of  this  generation.     But  while  these  large  in- 


68  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

terests  were  engaging  the  attention  of  the  people  the 
more  regular  work  of  the  church  was  going  on.  The 
word  of  God  was  faithfully  preached  on  the  Lord's  Day. 
A  weekly  lecture  was  carefully  prepared  and  delivered. 
The  ordinances  of  the  church  were  administered.  The 
training  of  the  youth  was  regarded.  Our  records  of  all 
these  private  doings  are  painfully  scant.  But  the  value 
of  the  work  is  inestimable. 

I  am  compelled  to  reserve  my  remarks  upon  the 
personal  character  and  the  teaching  of  our  first  min- 
ister.    It  is  interesting  to  find  his  name  and  the  affairs 
of  the  church  entering  into  our  public  records..    The 
General  Court  which  met  here  in  1636  made  a  grant 
of  £  50  to  Mr.  Thomas  Shepard.     In  our  town  rec- 
ords you  may  find  a  vote  in  1638  granting  to  him 
two   and   two   thirds   acres   of  land   on   the   road   to 
Charlestown.      In  1647  there  is  a  grant  of  six  acres  of 
meadow  land.     In  1650  there  is  a  record  stating  that 
three  hundred  acres  of  land  beyond  Watertown  Mill 
had  been  formerly  given  to  Mr.  Shepard,  and  also  two 
hundred  acres  more  near  Mr.  Samuel  Shepard's  farm. 
I  find  no  other  record  of  provision  directly  for  his  main- 
tenance.    But  we  know  that  in  1640  he  was  brought 
into  great  embarrassment  through  the  depression  in  the 
financial  condition  of  the  colonists.     It  was  a  time  of 
public   extremity,   threatening   the   very  existence   of 
the ,  church.      There   was   no   money.      Mr.  Shepard's 
salary  was  then  £  70,  payable  in  corn,  which  in  this 
year   was  made   a   legal  tender  for   new  debts.     The 
emergency  was  so  pressing  that  a  removal  to  Connecti- 
cut was  discussed,  and  Shepard  was  urged  to  this  step 
by  Hooker.     He  bore  his  trial  with  patience  and  faith, 
submitting  to  the  will  of  the  Lord,  and  waiting  for 


LECTURE  III. 


69 


better  times.  "We  are  thus  permitted  to  know  some- 
thing of  the  things  our  fathers  talked  about  and  suffered 
in  the  days  which  are  gone.  To  show  further  the 
regard  of  the  town  for  the  church,  there  is  the  vote  in 
1648,  at  a  general  town-meeting,  "  that  there  should  be 
a  farm  laid  out  of  a  thousand  acres,  and  improved  for 
the  good  of  the  church,  and  that  part  of  the  church  that 
shall  here  continue."  This  was  in  that  portion  of  Cam- 
bridge known  as  Shawshine.  The  census  of  1647  gives 
as  the  number  of  ratable  persons  in  the  town  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five,  with  ninety  houses. 

In  1642  there  is  this  record  :  "  It  is  ordered  that  ac- 
cording to  an  order  of  Court  made  the  last.  General 
Court  for  the  townsmen  to  see  to  the  educating  children, 
that  John  Bridge  shall  take  care  of  all  the  families  of 
that  side  the  highway  his  own  house  stands  on  to  My 
Bro.  Winship's,"  and  so  oh,  dividing  the  town  into  six 
parts,  which  were  assigned  to  different  persons. 

The  house  of  worship  seems  to  have  fallen  in  need  of 
attention.  It  was  a  house  humble  in  appearance,  but 
comparing  well  with  other  houses  in  the  town,  and 
famous  for  some  things  done  within  its  rude  walls. 
There  this  church  had  its  beginning.  There,  it  appears, 
was  held  the  first  College  Commencement  in  1642.  There 
the  Cambridge  Platform  was  framed  in  1648.  Other 
events  which  related  to  the  interest  of  the  community 
and  the  churches  around  it  found  a  place  within  its 
courts.  It  was  a  building  famous  for  beginnings.  But 
the  years  would  not  spare  it.  In  February,  1649,  at  a 
general  meeting  of  the  whole  town,  "  it  was  voted  and 
agreed  by  a  general  consent,  that  the  meeting-house 
shall  be  repaired  with  a  4-square  roofe  and  covered  with 
shingle,  and  the  charge  thereof  levied  upon  the  Inhabit- 


70  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

ants  of  the  Towne  by  equale  rate."  Either  because  it 
was  found  cheaper  to  build  a  new  house  than  to  repair 
the  old  one,  or  a  better  house  could  be  afforded,  or  a  bet- 
ter site  procured,  three  weeks  later  "  it  was  voted  and 
agreed  that  the  five  men  chosen  by  the  Town  to  repair 
the  meeting-house  shall  desist  from  the  same  and  agree 
with  workmen  for  the  building  of  a  new  House  about  40 
foote  square,  and  covered  as  was  formerly  agreed  for  the 
other."  It  was  also  agreed  that  the  new  house  should 
stand  on  "  Watch-house  Hill."  The  site  selected  was  near 
the  place  where  Dane  Hall  now  stands,  and  near  the 
dwelling-house  occupied  by  Mr.  Shepard,  which  stood  also 
in  the  present  College  yard,  nearly  opposite  to  Holyoke 
Street.  But  it  was  not  to  be  given  to  Thomas  Shepard 
to  fill  the  new  sanctuary  with  the  sound  of  the  "  silver 
trumpet  from  whence  the  people  of  God  had  often  heard 
the  joyful  sound  of  the  gospel."  His  constitution  had 
never  been  vigorous,  and  his  labors  and  trials  must  have 
impaired  his  health.  He  says  of  himself  that  he  was  "very 
weak  and  unfit  to  be  tossed  up  and  down  and  to  bear 
persecution."  We  find  him  at  one  time  brought  near  to 
the  gate  of  death,  but  graciously  restored  through  God's 
good  providence.  One  child  had  died  in  England.  Two 
children  died  here.  His  wife  died  soon  after  his  arrival 
here.  In  1637  he  married  Joanna,  the  eldest  daughter 
of  his  friend  and  predecessor,  Thomas  Hooker.  She  was 
a  woman  of  remarkable  loveliness  and  piety  and  wisdom. 
But  after  less  than  nine  years  of  married  life  she,  too,  was 
taken  from  him.  In  1638  his  old  and  dear  friend  Eoger 
Harlakenden  died,  and  was  buried  with  military  honors. 
Mr.  Shepard  afterwards  married  Margaret  Boradel,  who 
survived  him,  and  became  the  wife  of  his  successor. 
There  were  four  sons  remaining  to  him  when  he  died. 


LECTURE  III.  71 

Among   his    honored   descendants  were  John  Quincy 
Adams  and  the  remainder  of  that  illustrious  line. 

The  25th  of  August,  1649,  was  a  day  long  to  be 
remembered  by  this  church.  With  perfect  memory 
and  clear  understanding  Mr.  Shepard  made  his  will, 
making  a  brief  but  explicit  statement  of  his  faith  and 
then  giving  small  bequests  to  his  sons  and  a  few 
friends,  —  among  whom  was  the  faithful  Euth  Mitchen- 
son,  the  Yorkshire  servant  who  followed  him  to  this 
country,  —  and  leaving  the  rest  of  his  temporal  estate  to 
his  wife.  The  inventory  of  his  estate  amounted  to  £  810. 
Some  of  his  last  sayings  are  preserved.  To  his  weeping 
friends  he  said,  "  I  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  very  much  ; 
that  little  part  which  I  have  in  him  is  no  small  comfort 
to  me  now."  To  several  young  ministers  who  visited 
him  a  little  before  his  decease  he  said,  "  Your  work  is 
great,  and  calls  for  great  seriousness.  As  to  myself  I 
can  say  three  things :  that  the  study  of  every  sermon  cost 
me  tears  ;  that  before  I  preached  a  sermon,  I  got  good  by 
it  myself ;  and  that  I  always  went  up  into  the  pulpit  as 
if  I  were  to  give  up  my  account  to  my  Master."  He  was 
solicitous  concerning  his  successor,  and  when  he  found 
that  the  man  of  his  choice  had  commended  himself  to 
his  people,  he  was  content  to  depart.  So  he  died,  in  the 
forty- fourth  year  of  a  large  life,  after  a  career  of  singular 
diligence  and  usefulness,  leaving  upon  many  hearts  and 
lives  the  impress  of  his  character  and  work.  No  man 
knoweth  of  his  grave  ;  but  he  is  with  his  Lord.  He 
died,  but  the  stream  flowed  on,  making  glad  the  city  of 
God.  It  flows  still  to  clothe  in  living  green  the  holy 
place  of  the  tabernacles  of  the  Most  High. 

"  His  name  and  office  sweetly  did  agree  ; 
Shepard,  by  name,  and  in  his  ministry.' 


LECTUEE    IV. 

"  There  shall  be  an  handful  of  corn  in  the  earth  upon  the 
top  of  the  mountains;  the  fruit  thereof  shall  shake  like  leb- 
anon :  and  they  of  the  city  shall  flourish  like  grass  of  the 
earth."  —  Psalm  lxxii.  16. 

IT  is  a  question  whether  the  word  translated  handful 
should  not  be  rendered  plenty  or  abundance,.  The 
rabbinical  tradition  favors  the  rendering  of  our  version, 
while  modern  lexicographers  prefer  the  other.  It  is  a 
question  of  etymology.  The  psalm  portrays  the  glories 
of  the  Messiah's  reign,  taking  its  imagery  from  the 
peaceful,  prosperous  reign  of  Solomon.  There  shall  be 
an  abundance  of  all  blessings  ;  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
shall  grow  in  luxuriance,  and  man  shall  be  full  of  all 
vigor  and  honor.  Either  rendering  of  the  verse  now 
before  us  will  be  true  of  that  happy  time.  Its  promise 
of  plenty  will  be  fulfilled.  From  the  beginning  there 
will  be  an  abundance.  Yet  to  the  eyes  of  men  the 
beginning  of  the  Messiah's  career,  the  earthly  life  of  our 
Lord,  promised  little  of  stability  or  grandeur.  Few 
dreamed  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  would  show  himself 
Lord  of  Hosts ;  that  he  who  was  nailed  to  the  cross 
would  sit  upon  a  throne  which  should  be  for  ever  and 
ever.  There  was  enough  of  power,  of  rule,  of  majesty, 
for  the  work  of  his  earthly  years  ;  more  of  marvels,  of 
wisdom  and  mercy,  more  of  divine  revelation,  of  the 
close  presence  of  God,  than  the  centuries  had  ever 
known.     Men  might  call  it  a  handful;  it  was  abun- 


LECTURE  IV.  73 

dance.  Even  they  who  saw  the  most  would  see  yet  more 
and  more  as  the  kingdom  of  the  Great  King  widened. 
Christianity  now  has  possession  of  the  earth,  and  moves 
on  to  bring  all  lands,  all  men,  under  the  beneficent  sway 
of  Christ,  the  King. 

The  New  England  Pilgrims  and  Puritans  sought  to 
establish  upon  these  open  shores  a  kingdom  within  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  subject  unto  it.  Their  attempt 
won  a  small  place  in  the  annals  of  their  own  and  later 
times.  Few  in  number,  persecuted  and  contemned, 
engaged  in  an  undertaking  resembling  others  which 
had  failed,  the  world,  so  far  as  it  cared  anything  for 
them,  had  slight  expectation  of  their  success.  They 
were  as  a  handful  of  corn  ;  a  handful  in  the  earth  upon 
the  top  of  the  mountains,  a  place  so  rocky  and  bleak 
that  there  was  little  prospect  of  a  generous  harvest.  Yet 
it  was  more  than  a  handful.  Those  men  and  women, 
with  the  spirit  which  had  brought  them  across  the  seas, 
with  a  purpose  as  noble  as  could  be  cherished,  with  a 
courage  and  persistency  which  no  storm  of  elements 
or  enemies  could  break,  with  learning  and  virtue  and 
piety,  with  God's  Word  in  their  hands  and  in  their 
hearts,  and  God  himself  within  and  on  every  side  of 
them,  they  were  an  abundance,  the  plentiful  seed  of 
a  great  harvest,  a  harvest  which  began  at  once  in  the 
liberty  and  purity  and  usefulness  which  made  the  wil- 
derness to  smile.  Call  it  a  handful,  call  it  an  abun- 
dance, —  either  will  be  true,  —  to-day  the  green  and 
golden  stalks  shake  like  the  trees  upon  Mount  Lebanon, 
and  the  world  hears  the  rustling,  and  men  out  of  all 
lands  are  glad  to  sit  in  the  pleasant  shade  and  feed  upon 
the  exuberant  fruitage.  ' 

Of  this  plentiful  handful  a  goodly  portion  was  here 


74  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

where  we  are  dwelling.  They  of  this  city  are  now 
flourishing  like  grass  of  the  earth,  while  they  are  widely 
scattered  who  have  been  raised  up  and  nourished  here 
for  high  service  and  grand  accomplishment. 

"We  are  to  look  more  carefully  at  the  beginning  of 
these  large  things.  Once  again  we  are  with  that  little 
company  gathered  about  Thomas  Shepard,  receiving  form 
and  impulse  from  his  hands.  What  was  there  in  him, 
in  his  ministry,  productive  of  abiding  results  ?  The 
personal  history  of  the  man  we  have  already  examined. 
"We  come  now  to  his  work.  He  was  a  preacher.  His 
influence  was  largely  through  his  preaching.  Of  the 
doctrines  which  he  held,  and  of  his  manner  of  presenting 
them,  we  are  able  to  judge  intelligently  from  his  printed 
works  and  from  the  testimony  of  men  of  his  own  time. 
"What  did  the  first  minister  of  the  First  Church  in  Cam- 
bridge preach  to  our  predecessors  ?  There  is  still  to  be 
seen  a  Bible,  containing  the  Old  Testament  in  Hebrew 
and  the  New  in  Greek,  and  having  at  the  bottom  of 
the  title-page  this  inscription  :  "  Thomas  Shepard.  ev 
tovtoi<;  ia0e.  Immanuel."  That  book  holds  the  truth 
which  he  taught.  Its  teachings  he  received  for  himself 
and  carefully  inculcated.  Whatever  of  good  he  wrought 
out  was  accomplished  by  one  resting  upon  the  Divine 
Word.  He  was  a  faithful  student,  and  brought  to  his 
study  of  the  truth  a  deep  knowledge  of  himself,  a  wide 
experience  of  others,  and  the  varied  helps  which  a  uni- 
versity training  affords.  The  scheme  of  doctrine  which 
he  learned  from  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  easily  discovered 
in  his  writings.  He  framed  a  system  for  himself,  which 
was  published  under  the  title  of  "  The  Sum  of  Chris- 
tian Eeligion,  in  way  of  Question  and  Answrer."  It  is  a 
catechism,  and  could  be  studied  now  with  profit.     The 


LECTURE  IV.  75 

beginning  gives  the  key-note  of  his  whole  system  of 
theology  :  "  What  is  the  best  and  last  end  of  man  ?  To 
live  to  God."  An  answer  which  seems  better  than  the 
corresponding  one  in  the  Catechism  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly,  which  adds  our  own  enjoyment  of  God  to  the 
glory  which  it  is  our  chief  end  to  pay  to  him.  As  we 
advance  from  this  beginning,  we  find  these  teachings  : 
God  is  a  spirit  living  of  himself,  infinite  and  eternal, 
understanding  at  once  all  truth,  and  purely  willing  all 
good.  There  is  one  God,  yet  he  has  three  subsistencies 
or  persons,  who  are  "  coequal,  coeternal,  subsisting  in, 
not  separating  from  each  other,  and  therefore  delighting 
in  each  other,  glorifying  each  other."  God  has  his  de- 
cree, that  is,  "  his  eternal  and  determinate  purpose,  con- 
cerning the  effecting  of  all  things  by  his  mighty  power, 
according  to  his  counsel."  Man  was  made  by  him,  in 
his  image,  and  was  placed  in  the  garden  of  Eden  to  live 
unto  God.  He  apostatized,  or  fell,  by  eating  of  the  for- 
bidden fruit ;  and  because  "  we  were  in  him  as  the  mem- 
bers in  the  head,  as  children  in  his  loins,  as  debtors  in 
their  surety,  as  branches  in  their  roots,"  in  his  falling  we 
all  fell,  by  the  imputation  of  his  sin,  as,  if  he  had  stood, 
we  all  had  stood,  by  the  imputation  of  his  righteousness. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  sin :  original  sin,  which  is  "  the 
contrariety  of  the  whole  nature  of  man  to  the  law  of 
God  "  ;  and  actual  sin,  which  is  "  the  continual  jarring 
of  the  actions  of  man  from  the  law  of  God,  by  reason  of 
original  sin."  The  recovery  of  man  is  his  return  "  to 
the  favor  of  God,  merely  out  of  favor  and  the  exceeding 
riches  of  his  free  grace."  The  Eedeemer  is  Jesus  Christ, 
God  and  man,  who  by  his  perfect  obedience,  and  his 
death  in  bitter  sufferings,  both  of  body  and  soul,  hath 
paid  the  price  which  justice  demands,  and  delivered  man 


76  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

out  of  captivity  to  sin,  Satan,  and  death.  Christ  rose 
from  the  dead  and  ascended  into  heaven,  whence  he 
will  return  to  judgment,  "  to  the  confusion  of  all  them 
that  would  not  have  him  rule  over  them,  and  to  the 
unspeakable  good  of  his  people."  The  Holy  Spirit 
applies  this  redemption  to  men,  cutting  off  the  soul 
from  the  old  Adam  and  ingrafting  it  into  the  second 
Adam,  Christ  Jesus.  He  produces  contrition  and  hu- 
miliation in  the  soul,  so  that  the  whole  soul  hears  the 
call  of  Christ  and  the  offer  of  his  rich  grace,  and  "  comes 
out  of  itself  unto  Christ,  for  Christ,  by  virtue  of  the 
irresistible  power  of  the  Spirit  in  the  call :  and  this  is 

faith The  soul  possessed  with  Christ,  and  right  unto 

him,  hath  by  the  same  Spirit  fruition  of  him,  and  all  his 
benefits  "  ;  hath  justification,  reconciliation,  adoption, 
sanctification,  glorification.  The  law  still  remains  as  a 
rule  of  life,  but  while  the  eternal  curse  of  God  falls  upon 
the  unregenerate  for  their  disobedience,  God  does  not 
withdraw  his  loving-kindness  from  the  regenerate,  but 
accepts  their  imperfect  obedience  when  they  observe  the 
will  of  Christ  by  confessing  and  lamenting  their  sin,  by 
desiring  mercy  in  the  blood  of  Christ  and  more  of  his 
spirit,  by  returning  to  him  the  praise  of  the  least  ability 
to  do  his  will.     The  church  is  "  the  number  of  God's 

elect None  are  to  be  members  of  the  church  but  such 

as  are  members  of  Christ  by  faith."  The  members  are 
bound  to  cleave  to  Christ  by  faith,  and  to  one  another 
also  by  brotherly  love.  By  uniting  with  a  particular 
church  the  believer  receives  special  benefits  and  prom- 
ises. The  ceremonial  observances  are  the  two  sacra- 
ments, Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

I  have  taken  these  statements  from  the  Catechism, 
nearly  in  the  words  of  the  author.     These  doctrines  are 


LECTURE  IV.  77 

more  clearly  unfolded  in  his  larger  treatises,  and  to  those 
I  must  refer  any  one  who  wishes  to  know  more  fully 
what  Shepard  taught.  His  views  of  sin  were  deep  and 
painful.  His  consciousness  of  sin  tormented  him.  He 
was  ready  to  refer  his  own  troubles,  and  the  sorrows  of 
those  connected  with  him,  to  his  wickedness.  He  has 
left  a  record  of  certain  "  Meditations  and  Spiritual  Ex- 
periences," concerning  which  David  Brainerd  says  in 
the  Preface,  that  whoever  reads  attentively  "  must  own 
that  he  finds  a  greater  appearance  of  true  humility,  self- 
emptiness,  self-loathing,  sense  of  great  unfruitfulness, 
selfishness,  exceeding  vileness  of  heart  and  smallness 
of  attainments  in  grace,  than  some  are  willing  to  admit 
of."  He  dealt  severely  with  himself;  yet  his  heart 
rested  on  God,  and  from  his  despondency  he  sprang 
back  upon  the  Divine  mercy  and  promises.  He  closes 
the  record,  "  I  saw  also  how  exceeding  precious  Christ 
was,  by  whom  I  came  to  have  all  favors,  and  how  pre- 
cious his  blood  was,  so  as  I  desired  to  rejoice  in  nothing 
but  in  Christ."  His  portrayal  of  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked  is  frightful.  But  this  is  matched  by  his  por- 
trayal of  redemption.  "  Christ  is  a  redeemer  by  strong 
hand,"  he  cries.  "  Here  is  encouragement  to  the  vilest 
sinner,  and  comfort, to  the  self-succorless  and  lost  sin- 
ner. '  0,  look  up  here  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  can  do 
that  cure  for  thee  in  a  moment  which  all  creatures 

cannot  do  in  many  years God,  as  a  creator,  having 

made  a  law,  will  not  forgive  one  sin  without  the  blood 
of  Christ ;  nay,  Christ's  blood  will  not  do  it  neither,  if 
thou  dost  join  never  so  little  that  thou  hast  or  dost  unto 
Jesus  Christ,  and  makest  thyself  or  any  of  thy  duties 
copartners  with  Christ  in  that  great  work  of  saving 
thee.  Cry  out,  therefore,  as  that  blessed  martyr  did, 
'  None  but  Christ,  none  but  Christ.' " 


78  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

It  is  interesting  to  mark  the  place  which  his  teach- 
ing gave  to  children.  This  is  made  clear  by  a  treatise 
sent  to  a  friend  as  a  letter,  and  afterwards  published 
with  the  title,  "  The  Church  Membership  of  Children 
and  their  Eight  to  Baptism,  according  to  the  holy  and 
everlasting  covenant  of  God,  established  between  him- 
self and  the  faithful,  and  their  seed  after  them,  in  their 
generations."  This  was  "  published  at  the  earnest  re- 
quest of  many,  for  the  consolation  and  encouragement 
both  of  parents  and  children  in  the  Lord."  Dr.  Albro 
says  of  this,  "  Of  all  the  works  upon  Infant  Baptism 
which  have  been  written  in  New  England,  this  letter 
of  Shepard's  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  able 
and  satisfactory."  His  main  positions  are  that  "the 
children  of  professing  believers  are  in  the  same  cov- 
enant God  made  with  Abraham :  that  baptism  is  a  seal 
of  our  first  entrance  and  admission  into  covenant,  and 
therefore  is  to  be  immediately  applied  to  children  of 
believing  parents  as  soon  as  ever  they  be  in  covenant, 
and  that  is  as  soon  as  they  become  the  visible  seed  of 

the  faithful The  children  of  godly  parents,  though 

they  do  not  manifest  faith  in  the  gospel,  yet  they  are 
to-be  accounted  of  God's  Church  until  they  positively 
reject  the  gospel,  either  in  themselves  or  in  their  par- 
ents." He  cherished  "  high  thoughts  of  faith  "  concern- 
ing them,  as  children  and  sons  of  God  by  promise. 
"For  want  of  faith  in  God's  promise  about  our  children, 
certainly  God  smites  and  forsakes  many  of  our  chil- 
dren." I  commend  this  work  to  the  reading  of  all  with 
whom  God  graciously  offers  to  make  covenant  for  their 
children's  sake.  It  is  most  touching  to  see  the  anxiety 
of  this  young  father  to  have  his  son  baptized.  Hunted 
and  watched  as  he  was  in  England,  he  was  not  able 


LECTURE  IV.  79 

safely  to  obtain  for  him  this  Christian  ordinance  in  its 
purity  until  he  had  found  a  new  home.  Most  tenderly 
does  he  admonish  that  son  afterwards  :  "  God  gave  thee 
the  ordinance  of  baptism,  whereby  God  is  become  thy 
God,  and  is  beforehand  with  thee,  that  whenever  you 
shall  return  to  God,  he  will  undoubtedly  receive  you ; 
and  this  is  a  most  high  and  happy  privilege  :  and  there- 
fore bless  God  for  it."  We  are  loyal  to  this  beginning, 
for  this  Divine  ordinance  of  our  holy  religion  is  held. 
in  high  honor;  and  few  are  the  children  born  into  this 
church  who  are  not  blessed  with  its  sacred  advantage. 

"We  are  able  to  learn  from  the  published  writings  of 
Shepard  his  views  regarding  the  Sabbath.  In  a  long 
treatise  he  discusses  the  Lord's  Day  in  all  its  bearings. 
It  contains  the  substance  of  several  sermons,  and  was 
thrown  into  the  form  of  theses  at  the  earnest  request 
of  the  students  in  the  College  for  their  use.  In  these 
days,  when  the  Sabbath  is  so  much  misunderstood,  and 
when  the  Puritan  idea  of  the  day  is  thought  austere 
and  formal  to  the  last  extreme,  these  masterly  pages 
will  be  found  profitable  reading.  The  question  of  the 
Sabbath  had  been  considered  and  settled,  in  the  minds 
of  the  Puritans  before  they  left  England.  The  English 
reformers  accounted  the  day  holy.  Elizabeth  took 
much  lower  ground,  and  by  her  precept  encouraged  her 
people  to  engage  in  active  labors  on  the  Lord's  Day, 
and  by  her  example  to  devote  a  part  of  the  day  to 
merry-making.  The  people  went  farther  than  the 
Queen  designed.  Fairs,  markets,  festivals,  work  of  all 
kinds,  games,  theatrical  performances,  profaned  the  con- 
secrated time.  At  length  a  frightful  accident  at  a 
bear-baiting  on  the  Sabbath  alarmed  the  people,  and 
aroused  the  public  conscience.     A  bill  passed  Parlia- 


80  FIRST   CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

ment  "  for  the  better  and  more  reverent  observing  of 
the  Sabbath  day."  The  Queen  refused  her  signature, 
because  "  she  would  suffer  nothing  to  be  altered  in  a 
matter  of  religion  or  ecclesiastical  government." 

The  leaders  of  the  movement  would  not  rest  there. 
The  appeal  to  law  had  failed.  There  was  another 
tribunal,  —  the  popular  heart.  This  was  not  addressed 
in  vain.  A  reformation  followed,  in  which  the  Puritans 
took  the  foremost  part.  Many  who  believed  with  the 
Puritans  in  the  sacredness  of  the  day,  and  favored  its 
scrupulous  observance,  became  alienated  from  the  Es- 
tablished Church,  whose  influence  was  thrown  on  the 
other  side.  It  came  to  pass  after  a  time  that  "  a  rigid 
or  lax  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day  was  the  sign  by 
which,  above  all  others,  the  two  parties  were  distin- 
guished." Out  of  this  contest,  from  this  reformation 
and  these  divisions,  from  this  settlement  of  the  ques- 
tion, our  fathers  came  here  to  begin  a  state,  to  whose 
well-being  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  was  essential. 
But  one  who  reads  the  work  of  Shepard  will  be  con- 
vinced that,  however  rigid  may  have  been  their  domes- 
tic and  public  Sabbath  laws,  they  kept  the  day  as  a 
sacred,  precious  time,  finding  its  advantage  not  in 
austerities  or  formalities,  but  in  real  spiritual  benefits, 
which  no  man,  no  house,  could  gain  save  by  remem- 
bering the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy.  With  these 
exalted  ideas  of  the  worth  of  the  day,  Mr.  Shepard 
urged  upon  men  a  faithful  regard  for  its  duties  and 
privileges.  He  rested  for  authority  upon  the  Fourth 
Commandment,  and  recognized  the  first  day  of  the 
week  as  the  Christian  Sabbath.  In  regard  to  the 
beginning  of  this  holy  period  he  says,  "  At  evening, 
after  the  setting  of  the  light  of  the  body  of  the  sun, 


LECTURE  IV.  81 

wherein  darkness  begins  to  be  predominant  over  the 
light,  the  Sabbath  begins."  It  was  to  be  a  day  of  rest : 
not  of  common,  but  of  sacred  or  holy  rest.  He  says, 
"  The  Lord  enjoins  this  rest  from  labor  upon  this  day, 
not  so  much  for  the  rest's  sake,  but  because  it  is  a 
medium  or  means  of   that   holiness  which   the   Lord 

requires  upon  this  day Works  of  necessity,  not 

only  for  preservation  of  life,  but  also  for  comfort  and 

comeliness  of  life,  are  not  unlawful We  are  to 

abstain  from  all  servile  work,  not  so  much  in  regard  of 
the  bare  abstinence  from  work,  but  that,  having  no  work 
of  our  own  to  mind  or  do,  we  might  be  wholly  taken  up 
with  God's  work,  being  wholly  taken  off  from  our  own 
that  he  may  speak  with  us,  and  reveal  himself  more 
fully  and  familiarly  to  us  (as  friends  do  when  they  get 
alone),  having  called  and  carried  us  out  of  the  noise  and 

crowd  of  all  worldly  occasions  and  things Upon 

every  Sabbath  we -should  be  in  a  holy  manner  drowned 
in  the  cares  and  thoughts  and  affections  of  the  things  of 

God Such  is  the  overflowing  and  abundant  love 

of  a  blessed  God  that  it  will  have  some  special  times  of 

special  fellowship  and  sweetest  mutual  embracings 

Herein  God's  great  love  appears  to  weary,  sinful,  rest- 
less man  ;  all  the  treasures  of  his  most  rich  and  precious 
love  are  set  open."  I  make  these  extended  quotations 
that  you  may  see  what  views  of  the  Sabbath  were  cher- 
ished by  one  of  the  chiefest  Puritan  ministers.  To  keep 
the  day  according  to  his  principles  would  make  the 
Sabbath  a  delight  for  old  and  young.  He  regarded  the 
Sabbath  as  a  day  to  be  kept  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

His  idea  of  heaven  was  spiritual.  It  was  not  simply 
a  place  full  of  delight  for  any  one  who  might  get 
through   a   gate ;    it  was  a  place  where   the   time  is 

6 


82  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

passed  in  the  enjoyment  of  God  and  holiness,  in  love 
for  Christ  the  Saviour.  If  one  had  shown  no  interest 
in  these  things  here,  there  was  little  for  him  to  antici- 
pate with  joy  as  he  looked  on  to  a  future  life. 

It  will  be  obvious,  from  all  that  has  been  said,  that 
Thomas  Shepard  was  a  man  of  an  eminently  spiritual 
temper.  He  was  thoroughly  sincere.  Against  self- 
deception  he  continually  admonished  his  hearers.  His 
lectures  upon  the  Parable  of  the  Ten  Virgins  are  full  of 
warnings  against  having  vessels  without  oil,  and  lamps 
whose  light  would  go  out.  This  hurried  survey  of  his 
teachings  should  convince  us  that  the  Puritans  were 
men  of  heart,  of  feeling,  of  affection  ;  earnest  in  religion, 
even  up  to  exile  for  its  sake,  but  able  to  know  the  sweet- 
ness of  religion  and  to  enjoy  the  choicest  of  its  benefits. 

To  preach  the  truth  Shepard  made  careful  prepara- 
tion. His  manner  and  matter  agreed  well.  He  learned 
before  he  taught.  He  made  thorough  work  of  a  subject. 
His  style  is  condensed,  almost  devoid  of  ornament,  rich 
in  comparisons  and  similes,  clear  and  nervous.  Pie  was 
much  in  prayer.  He  lived  deeply  and  thought  deeply. 
Hence  his  works  have  not  grown  old.  They  are  grand 
reading  still.  Some  one  has  made  the  computation  that 
in  the  "  Treatise  concerning  the  Eeligious  Affections,"  by 
Jonathan  Edwards,  of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
quotations  more  than  one  half  are  from  Thomas  Shepard. 
His  writings  are  rich  in  pithy  sentences,  condensations 
of  truth.  I  wish  I  could  read  many  of  them  to  you, 
but  must  be  content  with  two  or  three.  "  The  body 
may  as  well  subsist  without  the  soul,  as  the  soul  can 
without  a  promise.  Do  not  flutter  up  and  down  from 
one  promise  to  another,  but  lie  a  great  while  on  some 
one,  and  wring  and  squeeze  it,  by  meditation  upon  it." 


LECTURE  IV.  83 

"  A  woman  that  is  matched  to  a  prince  may  have  never 
a  penny  in  her  purse,  and  yet  she  rejoiceth  in  that  her 
husband  hath  it."  Thus  he  illustrates  the  wealth  of 
the  poor  man  who  is  one  with  Christ.  "  Mariners  long 
to  be  on  shore  ;  but  before  they  come  there  they  would 
not  venture  in  a  mist,  but  see  land  first ;  so  should  we 
desire  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living.  It  is  the 
honor  of  a  Christian  to  be  ripe  for  death  betimes,  yet 
still  before  he  is  ripe  he  is  not  to  desire  it.  Children 
that  will  be  up  before  it  is  day  must  be  whipped  ;  a  rod 
is  most  fit  for  them ;  stay  till  it  is  day." 

He  took  time  to  prepare  himself  for  preaching.  It 
is  said  that  he  always  finished  his  preparation  for  the 
pulpit  by  two  o'clock  on  Saturday  afternoon,  accounting 
"  that  God  would  curse  that  man's  labors  who  goes 
lumbering  up  and  down  in  the  world  all  the  week,  and 
then  upon  Saturday  afternoon  goes  into  his  study,  when, 
as  God  knows,  that  time  were  little  enough  to  pray  in 
and  weep  in  and  get  his  heart  into  a  frame  fit  for  the 
approaching  Sabbath."  Thus  tearfully,  prayerfully,  did 
he  make  ready  for  the  house  of  God,  taking  to  his  own 
heart  the  truth  he  preached  to  others,  and  declaring  the 
counsel  of  God  as  one  who  is  to  give  account.  He  dealt 
honestly  with  his  hearers.  He  sought  no  smooth  things 
to  please  those  who  needed  to  be  aroused,  but  spoke  the 
truth  with  great  plainness,  always  in  love.  With  firm- 
ness and  kindness  he  guarded  his  people  against  their 
own  delusive  hopes,  promoted  the  interests  of  the 
church  committed  to  his  care,  and  advised  others  which 
sought  his  counsel.  He  was  a  shrewd  man  and  a 
skilful  casuist,  as  is  shown  by  his  treatise  called  "  Cer- 
tain Select  Cases  resolved  ;  especially  tending  to  the 
right  ordering  of  the  heart."  In  controversy  he  was  fair, 


84  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

candid,  charitable,  striving  for  the  upholding  of  the 
truth.  So  successfully  did  he  watch  over  his  own  flock, 
that  it  was  largely  saved  from  the  errors  and  commo- 
tions which  disturbed  many  churches  around  him. 
Conscious  of  his  faults,  convicted  of  sin,  he  trusted  so 
implicitly  in  the  Saviour  Christ,  and  his  revealed  truth, 
that  he  could  preach  the  gospel  with  such  unction  that 
others,  sinners  like  himself,  heard  to  believe  and  obey. 
A  tradition  has  come  down  that  he  "  scarce  ever 
preached  a  sermon  but  some  one  or  other  of  his  congre- 
gation were  struck  with  great  distress,  and  cried  out  in 
agony,  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ? "  There  is  a  glow 
and  fervor  in  his  sermons,  even  as  we  see  them  on  the 
cold  page,  which  accounts  for  their  power.  He  pleads 
wTith  men.  His  earnestness  yet  lingers  in  his  sentences. 
In  the  frequent  repetition  of  the  "  0,"  with  which  he 
appealed  to  his  hearers,  we  have  a  glimpse  of  his  longing 
desire  to  have  men  heed  his  message  of  life  and  live. 
He  is  described  as  "  a  poor,  weak,  pale-complectioned 
man,"  but  his  words  had  a  marvellous  power.  This  is 
evident  from  the  epithets  which  different  persons  have 
applied  to  him.  He  is  called  "  the  holy,  heavenly, 
sweet-affecting  and  soul-ravishing  minister " ;  "  this 
soul-melting  preacher " ;  his  was  an  "  orthodox  and 
soul-flourishing  ministry."  He  was  "  that  gracious, 
swreet,  heavenly-minded,  and  soul-ravishing  minister, 
in  whose  soul  the  Lord  shed  abroad  his  love  so  abun- 
dantly that  thousands  of  souls  have  cause  to  bless  God 
for  him."  "  A  man  of  a  thousand,  endued  with  abun- 
dance of  true,  saving  knowledge  for  himself  and  others ; 
yet  his  natural  parts  were  weak,  but  spent  to  the  full." 

"  Shepheard's  sweet  sermons  from  thy  blessing  came  "  — 
"  Oh  Christ  why  dost  thou  Shepheard  take  away, 
In  erring  times  when  sheepe  most  apt  to  stray  ?  " 


LECTURE  IV.  85 

It  will  naturally  be  asked,  What  was  the  influence  of 
such  a  man  upon  society  ?     It  was  healthful  in  every 
way.     He  was  a  good  overseer  of  the  College.     In  1636 
he  was  entreated  by  the  General  Court  to  join  with  the 
governor  and  others  in  making  a  draft  of  laws  agreeable 
to  the  Word  of  God,  to  be  the  "  fundamentals  of  this 
commonwealth."     Without  limiting  ourselves  to  Cam- 
bridge, we  can  learn  from  many  sources  what  the  commu- 
nity was  which  Puritans,  Puritan  preaching,  Puritan  in- 
fluences, formed.  It  was  a  community  which  reverenced 
God,  his  Word,  his  Sabbath,  his  church.     The  Bible  was 
the  supreme  law,  but  this  was  no  sealed  book ;  it  was 
to  be  read  by  all,  that  every  man  might  know  his  duty. 
They  gave  their  interpretation  to  it,  and  were  careful 
whom  they  made  teachers  ;  but  it  was  an  interpretation 
founded  on  the  book  itself  and  sustained  by  argument ; 
and  on  the  strength  of  that  interpretation  they  had  for- 
saken the  land  and  church  they  loved,  and  in  its  appli- 
cation their  success  and  hope  were  bound  up.     It  was 
a  community  which  endowed  a  college  with  a  liberality 
which   should   excite   this   generation  ;    and    founded 
schools,  and  set  good  men  over  them,  —  men  who  feared 
God  and  knew  his  truth  ;  which  provided  that  children 
should  be  trained  to  some  useful  employment ;  which 
preserved  its  own  morality  and  exalted  the  Christian 
virtues ;    which    dealt    so    kindly  by  criminals,  that, 
when  English  law  punished  more  than  thirty  offences 
with  death,  here  the  extreme  penalty  was  reserved  for 
ten  crimes ;  which  loved  freedom  so  well,  that,  with 
slavery  sent  upon  it,  there  has  not  been  a  slave  born  in 
Massachusetts  since  1641  ;  which  cherished  kindly  feel- 
ings towards  the  Indians  around  it,  and  sought  their 
present    and    eternal  well-being;   which  prospered  in 


86  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

adversity,  and  kept  its  place  and  name  till  colonies  could 
become  a  nation  ;  which  made  its  own  time  memorable 
for  its  valor  and  devotion,  and  wrote  the  first  lines  in 
the  nation's  heroic  annals.  It  was  a  community  of  men 
with  human  limitations  and  infirmities ;  but  of  strong 
men,  bent  upon  the  right,  instructed  in  all  good  learn- 
ing. They  were  firm,  but  they  were  not  bigots.  They 
kept  to  their  original  purpose,  and  would  not  brook 
destructive  interference.  But  the  world  was  not  so 
narrow  that  all  men  must  live  here.  Any  who  disliked 
Puritan  ways  could  follow  their  own  ways  on  sunnier 
shores.  They  were  not  morose,  sour,  tyrannical.  There 
were  some  such,  it  may  be ;  there  are  now.  Men  of 
bigoted  temper,  long  visaged,  sullen,  are  to  be  seen  any 
day  in  our  streets.  They  are  not  puritanic,  they  are 
badly  human  ;  not  a  reproach  to  the  fathers,  but  a  sor- 
row to  us.  That  snarling  remark, of  Macaulay  that 
"  the  Puritan  hated  bear-baiting,  not  because  it  gave 
pain  to  the  bear,  but  because  it  gave  pleasure  to  the 
spectators,"  is  simply  a  blunder,  or  a  falsehood,  certainly 
so  far  as  it  relates  to  those  who  consented  to  expatria- 
tion in  devotion  to  liberty  and  truth,  in  love  for  God 
and  man.  One  of  our  own  countrymen,  who  will  not  be 
suspected  of  any  undue  admiration  of  the  early  settlers 
of  New  England,  has  frankly  said,  —  according  to  the 
public  report,  —  that  the  only  intolerance  they  indulged 
in  was  the  "  noble  sort  which  belongs  to  those  who  are 
absolutely  confident  that  they  are  the  servants  of 
almighty  truth.  They  were  not  intolerant  of  things 
that  meddled  with  their  private  interests ;  they  were 
intolerant  of  those  who  hated  God  and  loved  sin  and 
worked  in  iniquity,  and  that  is  the  sort  of  intolerance," 
continues  Mr.  Emerson,  "  I  should  be  glad  to  see  a  g'  aat 


LECTURE  IV.  37 

deal  more  of  to-day,  here  and  everywhere."  We  have 
been  reading  the  story  of  one  Puritan  minister ;  in  him 
we  may  see  how  the  two  parts  of  a  vigorous,  manful 
character  were  united,  the  strength  and  gentleness,  the 
firmness  and  affection,  the  courage  which  made  a 
nation  in  a  wilderness  and  laid  its  hand  of  blessing  on 
the  heads  of  children. 

We  are  permitted  to  recognize  the  influence  of 
Thomas  Shepard  upon  certain  individuals,  and  from 
their  experience  to  infer  his  influence  upon  others.  The 
narrative  of  the  famous  Edward  Johnson  has  become 
familiar.  He  came  hither  for  the  second  time  in  1636, 
a  zealous  Puritan.  It  seems  probable  that  he  had  known 
Shepard  in  England,  possibly  had  been  instructed  by 
him.  He  arrived  here  at  the  height  of  the  Antinomian 
controversy,  and  was  nearly  beside  himself  with  the 
commotion  and  strife.  He  wandered  out  from  Charles- 
town  till  he  came  to  a  large  plain,  where  he  heard  the 
sound  of  a  drum,  and  he  moved  towards  it  along  a  broad, 
beaten  way.  Meeting  a  man,  he  asked  what  the  drum 
meant,  and  was  told  that  it  was  to  call  people  to  the 
meeting-house  where  Mr.  Shepard  preached.  He  found 
his  way  to  the  house,  where  he  stayed  till  the  glass  was 
turned  up  twice,  and  he  was  "  metamorphosed,  and  was 
fain  to  hang  down  his  head  lest  his  watery  eyes  should 
blab  abroad  the  secret  conjunction  of  his  affections." 
The  words  of  the  preacher  impressed  him,  so  aptly  did 
he  apply  the  truth,  as  if  he  had  been  Christ's  privy 
councillor.  The  result  was  that  he  resolved  to  live  and 
die  with  the  ministers  of  New  England.  He  was  a  man 
of  learning  and  property,  and  had  a  leading  part  in  the 
erecting  of  a  church  and  town  at  Woburn,  and  in  the 
administration  of  public  affairs. 


88  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

We  have  another  illustration  of  Mr.  Shepard's  in- 
fluence. In  1638  there  came  from  England  one  Thomas 
Fuller.  He  proposed  to  make  a  tour  of  observation, 
and,  when  he  had  gratified  his  curiosity,  to  return  home. 
But  while  in  Massachusetts  he  heard  the  preaching  of 
Thomas  Shepard.  Through  his  influence  he  became  in- 
terested in  the  religion  of  the  Puritans,  in  their  methods 
and  purposes,  so  that  he  decided  to  remain  here,  and 
bought  a  large  tract  of  land  in  New  Salem  and  settled 
down  upon  it.  He  married  here,  and  died  sixty  years 
after  his  coming  to  the  country.  He  founded  a  large  and 
eminent  family,  and  his  descendants  now  worship  with 
us  in  this  house  of  the  Lord. 

Mr.  Shepard's  own  sons,  in  their  after-career,  praise 
him  for  his  wisdom  and  fidelity.  Thomas  graduated 
in  1653  and  became  pastor  of  the  church  in  Charles- 
town,  to  be  succeeded  in  the  pastoral  office  by  his  son. 
Samuel  graduated  in  1658,  and  became  pastor  of  the 
church  at  Eowley.  Jeremiah  graduated  in  1669,  and 
was  ordained  as  pastor  at  Lyme,  Conn.,  and  enjoyed  a 
ministry  of  forty-one  years.     "  These  all  died  in  faith." 

As  we  read  the  names  of  those  who  were  in  college 
during  Mr.  Shepard's  ministry,  we  have  another  in- 
dication of  his  influence.  His  sympathies  must  have 
gone  out  to  the  youth  who  came  to  his  humble  sanctu- 
ary to  learn  the  greatest  lessons.  Out  of  this  happy 
seminary,  says  Cotton  Mather,  "  there  proceeded  many 
notable  preachers,  who  were  made  such  very  much  by 
their  sitting  under  Mr.  Shepard's  enlightening  and  pow- 
erful ministry."  Among  the  young  men  who  listened 
to  him  and  were  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  influenced 
by  him,  was  William  Hubbard,  long  the  most  eminent 
minister  in  the  county  of  Essex ;  a  man  of  learning,  a 


LECTURE  IV.  89 

superior  writer,  a  good  historian  ;  of  a  catholic  spirit, 
greatly  interested  in  the  Indians,  and  diligent  in  his 
efforts  for  their  good.  And  Samuel  Mather,  of  that 
house  whose  name  and  deeds  are  intertwined  with  our 
early  ecclesiastical  history,  who  was  himself  one  of  the 
first  Fellows  of*  Harvard  College,  afterward  a  chaplain 
at  Oxford,  and  Senior  Fellow  at  Dublin,  where  he  was 
pastor  of  a  church.  And  Samuel  Danforth,  Tutor  and 
Fellow  of  the  College,  colleague  of  John  Eliot,  ac- 
counted among  the  first  ministers  of  his  day.  And 
William  Ames,  son  of  the  famous  William  Ames,  the 
acute  controversialist  who  fled  from  England  to  the 
Continent,  where  he  was  Professor  of  Theology,  and  for 
a  time  was  the  opponent  of  John  Bobinson.  The  father 
designed  to  come  to  New  England,  and  after  his  death 
the  mother  came  with  the  son,  who  graduated  in  the 
class  of  1645,  and  returned  to  England,  where  he 
preached  till  he  was  ejected  for  nonconformity,  and 
still  preached  on,  filling  up  a  ministry  of  forty-nine 
years.  And  John  Brock,  the  laborious  pastor,  the 
shrewd  fisher  of  men,  mighty  in  prayer,  full  of  faith 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  toiling  with  success  until,  "  as 
the  ancients  expressed  it,  he  took  his  journey  a  little 
before  his  body  into  another  country."  And  John 
Bogers,  president.  And  Urian  Oakes,  pastor  and  pres- 
ident. And  Leonard  Hoar,  president.  And  Samuel 
Phillips,  the  eldest  son  of  the  first  minister  of  Water- 
town,  "an  incomparable  man,  had  he  not  been  the 
father  of  Samuel " ;  a  man  so  much  respected  and 
beloved  by  his  people  that  they  made  provision  for  the 
education  of  his  son,  who  for  a  long  term  of  years  was 
the  minister  of  Bowley ;  who  was  the  ancestor  of  men 
able   and  willing   to   make   the   house   illustrious   bv 


90  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

founding  the  academies  at  Andover  and  Exeter,  and 
writing  the  family  name  upon  them.  There  are  still 
extant  notes  of  the  sermons  of  Mr.  Shepard  in  the 
handwriting  of  Samuel  Phillips. 

This  glance  at  some  of  the  men  who  came  within  the 
range  of  Shepard's  preaching  and  pefsonal  influence 
will  convince  us  how  effective  and  enduring  his  work  was. 
It  is  worthy  of  our  boasting,  that,  from  the  beginning 
to  our  own  time,  so  goodly  a  portion  of  our  congregation 
is  always  enrolled  in  the  catalogue  of  Harvard  College. 

There  was  one  other  student  of  whom  special 
mention  must  be  made.  This  carries  forward  the 
history  we  are  reading.  At  the  head  of  the  names  of 
the  class  of  1647  stands  Jonathan  Mitchel,  Mr.,  Socius. 
Once  again  the  history  of  our  church  springs  from 
Yorkshire,  England,  where  Mitchel  was  born  in  1624. 
He  was  the  son  of  pious  and  wealthy  parents,  who  sought 
"  to  make  him  learned  by  a  proper  education."  When 
he  was  about  eleven  years  of  age,  in  feebleness  of  body 
because  of  a  recent  illness,  his  parents  were  compelled 
to  leave  England  on  account  of  the  persecutions  there, 
and  they  sailed  for  this  country  in  company  with  many 
other  Puritans.  After  a  perilous  voyage  they  reached 
Boston  in  the  summer  of  1635.  The  family  soon 
settled  in  Connecticut.  Because  of  the  feeble  health  of 
the  son,  troubles  with  the  Indians,  contentions  in  the 
community,  and  severe  domestic  misfortunes,  the  studies 
of  young  Mitchel  were  suspended  for  seven  years,  and 
he*  was  employed  in  secular  affairs.  But  his  studies 
were  resumed  at  his  own  desire,  and  the  earnest  advice 
and  entreaty  of  friends  who  marked  his  great  capacity 
for  learning.  He  seems  to  have  been  mature  even  in  his 
youth.     "  He  had  a  clear  head,  a  copious  fancy,  a  solid 


LECTURE  IV.  91 

judgment,  a  tenacious  memory,  and  a  certain  discretion 
without  any  childish  levity  in  his  behavior,  which  com- 
manded respect  from  all  that  viewed  him ;  so  that  it 
might  be  said  of  him,  they  that  knew  him  from  a  child 
never  knew  him  any  other  than  a  man."  His  severe 
sickness  seems  to  have  made  him  serious.  The  sudden 
death  of  a  servant,  who  "  instead  of  going  to  the  lecture 
at  Hartford,  as  he  had  been  allowed  and  advised,  would 
needs  go  fell  a  tree  for  himself,"  and  was  killed  by  the 
falling  of  a  bough,  did  much  stir  the  heart  of  the  youth, 
and  set  him  upon  repentance.  He  entered  college  in 
1645,  and  came  at  once  under  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Shepard.  Concerning  the  impression  made  upon  him 
during  his  student  life  by  that  godly  minister,  Mitchel 
testified, "  Unless  it  had  been  four  years  living  in  heaven, 
I  know  not  how  I  could  have  more  cause  to  bless  God 
with  wonder,  than  for  those  four  years."  While  in  college, 
and  afterwards,  he  kept  a  brief  diary  in  Latin,  from  which 
Mather  makes  copious  extracts.  These  reveal  a  close 
watch  of  his  spiritual  state,  a  deep  humility  and  abase- 
ment of  soul,  and  a  strong  desire  to  walk  with  God. 
Sometimes  on  Saturday  he  would  retire  into  the  neigh- 
boring woods  and  there  spend  a  great  part  of  the  day 
in  self-examination  and  mourning  and  praying.  He 
had  done  this  even  when  a  school-boy.  After  graduating, 
he  was  made  one  of  the  Fellows  of  the  College,  and 
for  a  time  was  Tutor.  His  learning,  gravity,  and  piety 
commended  him  to  all.  He  used  his  offices  well,  and  to 
the  customary  instruction  of  his  scholars  added  diligent 
efforts  for  their  spiritual  good.  While  residing  at  college 
he  wrote  to  his  brother,  who  sought  the  counsel,  what 
Mather  calls  "that  golden  letter,"  wherein  he  showed 
how  well  fitted  he  was,  both  by  study  and  experience, 
for  the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 


92  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

Several  churches  sought  to  make  him  their  pastor. 
"  The  Church  of  Hartford  sent  a  man  and  horse  above 
an  hundred  miles  to  obtain  a  visit  from  him,  in  expecta- 
tion to  make  him  the  successor  of  their  ever-famous 
Hooker."  With  much  shrinking  he  went  to  Hartford 
and  preached  his  first  sermon  from  the  text,  "  He 
endured,  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible."  He  was 
greatly  dissatisfied  witli  himself,  but  the  church  on  the 
next  day  "concluded  to  give  him  an  invitation  to  settle 
among  them."  They  offered  to  allow  him  to  remain  at 
the  College  another  year,  and  to  advance  him  money  to 
procure  a  library.  But  Mr.  Shepard  and  the  principal 
persons  here  had  been  before  them,  and  had  prayed  him 
to  come  back  as  free  as  he  went  up,  "  insomuch  as  he 
did  upon  divers  accounts  most  belong  to  Cambridge, 
and  Cambridge  did  hope  that  he  would  yet  more  be- 
long unto  them."  When  this  was  first  mentioned  to 
him  by  Mr.  Shepard,  he  wrote  in  his  diary,  "  I  wondered 
at  this  matter  !  What  is  it  that  the  people  of  God  sees 
in  me  ?  I  left  the  whole  business  to  the  Divine  man- 
agement." On  the  12th  of  August,  1649,  he  preached 
here.  In  the  evening  Mr.  Shepard  told  him  "  this  was 
the  place  where  he  should,  by  right,  be  all  the  rest  of 
his  days."  Mr.  Shepard  inquired  of  some  good  people 
"  how  Mr.  Mitchel's  first  sermon  was  approved  among 
them.  They  told  him,  very  well.  Then,  said  he,  my 
work  is  done."  In  less  than  a  fortnight,  Shepard  was 
called  to  his  rest ;  "  so  that  the  unanimous  desire  of 
Cambridge  for  Mr.  Mitchel  to  be  their  pastor  was 
hastened,  with  several  circumstances  of  necessity  for 
him  to  comply  with  their  desire."  On  the  21st  of 
August,  1650,  he  became  the  minister  of  this  church. 
The  neighboring  pastors  ordained  him.     John  Cotton 


LECTURE  IV.  93 

gave  liim  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  Thenceforth 
he  filled  the  office  in  which  he  had  been  set  by  Christ 
and  the  Church.  Of  this  ministry  I  must  speak  more 
particularly  at  another  time.  But  the  great  reputation 
which  he  acquired,  and  the  high  estimate  set  upon  his 
talent  and  success,  are  abundantly  proved  by  the  tes- 
timonies published  after  his  decease.  Morton  pro- 
nounces it  an  eminent  favor  of  God  to  this  church  to 
have  had  the  vacancy  made  by  Shepard's  death  filled 
"  with  a  man  of  so  much  of  the  spirit  and  principles  of 
the  former  pastor,  and  so  excellently  qualified  with  re- 
spect to  the  College."  "  For,"  he  continues,  "  reason  and 
prudence  requireth  that  the  minister  of  that  place  be 
more  than  ordinarily  endowed  with  learning,  gravity, 
wisdom,  orthodoxness,  ability,  sweet  and  excellent  gifts 
in  preaching ;  that  so  the  scholars  which  are  devoted 
and  set  apart,  in  order  to  be  preachers  of  the  gospel, 
might  be  seasoned  with  the  spirit  of  such  an  Elijah ; 
in  which  regard  this  holy  man  of  God  was  eminently 
furnished,  and  his  labors  wonderfully  blessed ;  for  very 
many  of  the  scholars,  bred  up  in  his  time,  do  savor  of 
his  spirit,  for  grace  and  manner  of  preaching,  which 
was  most  attractive."  It  is  pleasant  to  see  how  im- 
portant this  position  was  considered,  and  how  well 
fitted  to  occupy  it  Shepard  and  Mitchel  were  found. 

This  second  pastor,  like  the  first,  was  a  student ;  "  an 
over-hard  student,"  one  says,  imperilling  his  health  by 
sparing  no  time  for  recreation ;  yet  "  from  a  principle 
of  godliness  he  used  himself  to  bodily  exercise."  His 
advice  to  another  illustrates  his  own  feeling  in  regard 
to  his  work.  "  My  serious  advice  to  you  is,  that  you 
keep  out  of  company,  as  far  as  Christianity  and  civility 
will  give  you  leave  ;  take  it  from  me  !  the  time  spent 


94  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

in  your  study  you  will  generally  find  spent  the  most 
profitably,  comfortably,  and  accountably."  His  sermons 
cost  him  pains.  "  He  ordinarily  meddled  with  no  points," 
says  Cotton  Mather,  "  but  what  he  managed  with  such 
an  extraordinary  invention,  curious  disposition,  and 
copious  application,  as  if  he  would  leave  no  material 
thing  to  be  said  of  it  by  any  that  should  come  after 
him."  He  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  concerns  of 
the  College.  "  The  College  was  nearer  unto  his  heart 
than  it  was  to  his  house,  though  next  adjoining  to  it." 
"  He  loved  a  scholar  dearly ;  but  his  heart  was  fervently 
set  upon  having  the  land  all  over  illuminated  with  the 
spirit  of  a  learned  education.  To  this  end  he  became 
a  father  to  the  College  which  had  been  his  mother." 
He  was  actively  engaged  in  the  general  ecclesiastical 
affairs.  In  all  places  he  acquitted  himself  well.  Pres- 
ident Chauncy  said,  "  I  know  no  man  in  this  world 
that  I  could  envy  so  much  as  worthy  Mr.  Mitchel,  for 
the  great  holiness,  learning,  wisdom,  and  meekness,  and 
other  qualities  of  an  excellent  spirit,  with  which  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  hath  adorned  him."  Eichard  Baxter  said 
of  him,  "  that  if  there  could  be  convened  an  (Ecumen- 
ical council  of  the  whole  Christian  world,  that  man 
would  be  worthy  to  be  the  Moderator  of  it." 

In  person  Mitchel  was  at  first  slender,  but  afterwards 
grew  corpulent.  Or,  in  the  words  of  an  old  biographer, 
"  of  extream  Lean,  he  soon  grew  extream  Fat."  The 
fever  in  his  tenth  year  settled  in  his  arm,  so  that  as  it 
grew  it  kept  a  little  bent,  and  he  could  never  stretch 
it  out  right.  His  manner  of  preaching  was  peculiarly 
effective  and  pleasing.  His  fame  was  in  all  the  re- 
gion. From  the  neighboring  towns  people  flocked  to  his 
monthly  lecture,  and  listened  to  his  exposition  of  the 


LECTURE  IV.  95 

grandest  truths  of  duty  and  destiny.  It  is  said  that 
"  his  utterance  had  such  a  becoming  tunableness  and 
vivacity  to  set  it  off  as  was  indeed  inimitable ;  though 
many  of  our  eminent  preachers,  that  were  in  his  time 
students  at  the  College,  did  essay  to  imitate  him.  And 
though  he  were  all  along  in  his  preaching  as  a  very 
lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleasant  voice,  yet,  as  he 
drew  near  to  the  close  of  his  exercises,  his  comely  fer- 
vency would  rise  to  a  marvellous  measure  of  energy. 
He  would  speak  with  such  a  transcendent  majesty 
and  liveliness,  that  the  people  would  often  shake  under 
his  dispensations,  as  if  they  had  heard  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet  from  the  burning  mountain,  and  yet  they  would 
mourn  to  think  that  they  were  going  presently  to  be 
dismissed  from  such  an  heaven  upon  earth."  "  He  wrote 
his  sermons  very  largely,  and  then  used  with  enlarge- 
ments to  commit  all  to  his  memory,  without  once  look- 
ing into  his  Bible  after  he  had  named  his  text,  and  yet 
his  sermons  were  scriptural."  He  had  "a  very  clear 
style,"  and  was  careful  in  his  use  of  words.  "  Though 
he  preached  long  sermons,  the  people  were  never  weary 
of  hearing  them."  From  these  descriptions  of  the  man, 
we  can  see  with  what  reason  President  Mather  exhorted 
the  members  of  the  College,  "  Say  each  of  you,  Mitchel 
shall  be  the  example  whom  I  will  imitate." 

Mitchel  was  to  have  married  Sarah,  the  daughter  of 
John  Cotton.  When  he  "  addressed  himself  unto  the 
venerable  old  Mr.  Cotton  for  leave  to  become  his  son- 
in-law,"  Mr.  Cotton,  "  prognosticating  the  eminency 
which  he  would  arrive  unto,  gave  leave  unto  it."  "  But 
the  immature  death  of  that  hopeful  young  gentlewoman  " 
prevented  "  so  desirable  a  match."  In  November,  1650, 
he  married  Margaret  Shepard,  second  of  that  name,  the 


96  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

young  gentlewoman  whom  his  predecessor  had  wedded 
near  the  close  of  his  life.  The  students  celebrated  the 
marriage  with  epithalamiums,  expressing  the  satisfaction 
of  all  the  good  people  in  the  vicinity  at  the  union  of  the 
minister  whom  they  loved  with  one  whom,  for  her  own 
excellences  and  the  honor  of  her  name,  they  held  in 
high  regard.  Upon  the  ancient  Steward's  book  is  an 
entry  in  Mitchel's  account  whereby  he  is  debtor 
"  by  commones  and  sisinges  and  a  super  on  his  weedinge 
night."  Upon  the  records  of  the  General  Court  is  the 
confirmation  of  a  deed  "  wherein  is  conveyed  to  Mr. 
Jonathan  Mitchel,  now  husband  of  Margaret,  the  relict  of 
the  said  Mr.  Shepard,  a  dwelling-house,  yards,  orcharde, 
and  seven  acres  of  land  adjoining  thereunto,  in  behalf 
of  his  said  wife."  The  inventory  of  Mitchel's  estate  was 
nearly  £  800.  Two  sons,  Samuel  and  Jonathan,  both 
of  whom  graduated  at  the  College,  and  one  daughter, 
Margaret,  gladdened  his  home. 

In  the  summer  of  1668,  "  in  an  extream  hot  season," 
after  he  had  been  preaching  from  the  words,  "  I  know 
that  thou  wilt  bring  me  to  death,  and  to  the  house  ap- 
pointed for  all  living,"  a  putrid  fever  arrested  him  with 
a  mortal  malignity,  and  on  the  9th  of  July  "  it  pleased 
God  to  take  him  to  rest  and  glory,"  in  the  eighteenth 
year  of  his  ministry,  and  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his 
age.  His  departure  caused  a  great  mourning  and 
lamentation  here  among  his  own  people,  and  through- 
out the  churches.  "  The  chief  remaining  pillar  of  our 
ministry,"  as  Hull  ventured  to  designate  him,  had  fallen. 
Only  one  sentence  has  come  down  to  us  from  his  last 
hours.  To  a  young  man  standing  by  his  bed  he  said, 
"  My  friend,  as  a  dying  man,  I  now  charge  you  that  you 
don't  meet  me  out  of  Christ  in  the  day  of  Christ."     In 


LECTURE  IV.  97 

our  ancient  church  records  is  an  entry  of  £  8  13  s.  6  c?., 
paid  in  silver,  by  the  appointment  of  the  committee  for 
the  minister's  house,  unto  the  Deputy-Governor,  Mr. 
Francis  Willoughby,  for  the  discharge  of  Mr.  Mitchei's 
funeral. 

There  are  a  few  expressive  lines,  signed  "  J.  S.,"  which 
stands,  probably,  for  the  Eev.  John  Sherman  of  Water- 
town.  They  are  entitled,  "  An  Epitaph  upon  the  de- 
plored Death  of  that  Super-eminent  Minister  of  the 
Gospel,  Mr.  Jonathan  Mitchel." 

"  Here  lyes  the  Darling  of  his  time, 
Mitchell,  Expired  in  his  prime  ; 
Who  four  years  short  of  Forty  seven 
Was  found  full  Ripe  and  pluck'd  for  Heaven. 
Was  full  of  prudent  Zeal  and  Love, 
Faith,  Patience,  Wisdome  from  above  : 
New  England's  stay,  next  Ages  Story  ; 
The  churches  Gemme  ;  the  Colledge  Glory. 
Angels  may  speak  him  !     Ah  !  not  I, 
(Whose  worth  's  above  Hyperbole) 
But  for  our  Loss,  wer  't  in  my  power, 
I'de  weep  an  Everlasting  Shower. " 


LECTUKE    V. 

"  SO  HE  FED  THEM  ACCORDING  TO  THE  INTEGRITY  OF  HIS  HEART;    AND 
GUIDED  THEM  BY  THE  SKILFULNESS  OF  HIS  HANDS."  —  Psalm   Ixxviii.  72. 

THE  Lord  "  chose  the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  Mount 
Zion  which  he  loved.  He  chose  David  also  his 
servant,  and  took  him  from  the  sheepfolds.  From  fol- 
lowing the  ewes  great  with  young  he  brought  him  to 
feed  Jacob  his  people,  and  Israel  his  inheritance.  So  he 
fed  them  according  to  the  integrity  of  his  heart  ;  and 
guided  them  by  the  skilfulness  of  his  hands."  The  sin- 
gular favor  with  which  God  regarded  his  ancient  people, 
his  continual  care  for  their  interests,  and  the  prosperity 
they  enjoyed  under  his  rule,  have  a  parallel  in  the  early 
history  of  our  own  land,  in  the  Divine  watchfulness  and 
guidance  granted  to  our  fathers,  in  the  abundant  success 
which  crowned  an  enterprise  undertaken  in  his  name, 
through  love  of  his  truth,  with  the  hope  of  extending 
his  kingdom.  We  may  well  confess  that  a  generous 
portion  of  God's  favor  has  been  given  to  this  church,  if 
our  study  of  its  history  shall  confirm  and  extend  the 
judgment  of  President  Mather,  that  "  there  have  been 
few  churches  in  the  world  so  lifted  up  to  heaven,  in 
respect  of  a  succession  of  super-eminent  ministers  of  the 
gospel."  The  line  of  my  predecessors  in  this  office,  long 
in  years,  yet  compassing  few  names,  is  one  of  which  we 
may  gratefully  boast  ourselves  a  little.  When  we  read 
what  men  thought  of  Thomas  Shepard,  and  repeat  the 


LECTURE   V.  99 

sounding  epithets  with  which  the  minister  and  his 
ministry  were  described,  we  are  hardly  prepared  to  turn 
from  his  early  grave  to  find  another  standing  in  his 
place,  carrying  forward  his  work,  winning  as  lofty  ad- 
miration, wielding  as  wide  an  influence,  seeming  again 
to  impoverish  the  language  in  the  demand  for  laudation 
made  by  his  character  and  work  in  his  own  and  later 
times.  The  sketch  of  the  life  of  Jonathan  Mitchel  in  the 
Magnalia,  under  the  title  "  Ecclesiastes,"  begins  in  this 
way :  "  It  is  reported  concerning  the  ancient  Phrygians, 
that,  when  a  priest  expired  among  them,  they  honored 
him  with  a  pillar  ten  fathom  high,  whereon  they  placed 
his  dead  body,  as  if  he  were  to  continue,  after  his  death, 
from  thence  instructing  the  people.  Nor  can  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  have  any  more  honorable  funeral  than 
that  by  which  his  instruction  of  the  people  may  be 
most  continued  unto  the  people  after  his  expiration. 
But  I  may,  without  any  danger  of  mistake,  venture  to 
affirm,  that  there  cannot  easily  be  found  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  in  our  days  more  worthy  to  have  the  story  of 
his  life  employed  for  the  instruction  of  mankind  after 
his  decease  than  our  excellent  Mitchel.  And  therefore 
I  shall  now  endeavor  to  set  him  on  as  high  a  pillar  as 
the  best  history  that  I  can  give  of  his  exemplary  life 
can  erect  for  that  worthy  man ;  for  whom  statues  of 
Corinthian  brass  were  but  inadequate  acknowledgments.'" 
It  is  both  honorable  and  profitable  for  us  to  cherish  the 
memory  and  influence  of  one  to  wdiom  we  are  so  closely 
related,  to  whom  is  assigned  a  position  so  conspicuous. 
To  some  extent  we  have  already  surveyed  his  personal 
history  and  character.  It  remains  for  us  now  to  examine 
his  ministry  with  this  church.  We  have  seen  that  he 
was  a  Yorkshire  boy  who,  at  eleven  years  of  age,  came 


100  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

to  this  country  with  his  parents,  who  are  described  as 
pious  and  wealthy  persons  ;  that  he  graduated  at  our 
College  in  1647,  and  three  years  later  was  ordained  and 
installed  as  pastor  of  this  church.  It  was  greatly  to 
the  joy  of  the  church  that  he  consented  to  become  their 
minister,  and  it  comforted  the  last  hours  of  Mr.  Shepard 
that  he  was  to  leave  his  beloved  flock  in  so  good  hands. 
Mr.  Mitchel's  own  feelings,  as  he  entered  upon  his  work, 
were  those  most  becoming  a  man  in  his  position.  For 
his  predecessor  he  cherished  the  utmost  reverence.  I 
have  already  repeated  his  words  in  which  he  expressed 
his  estimate  of  Mr.  Shepard's  influence.  Speaking  of 
the  time  he  spent  at  the  College,  he  said,  "  Unless  it  had 
been  four  years  living  in  heaven,  I  know  not  how  I  could 
have  more  cause  to  bless  God  with  wonder  than  for 
those  four  years."  It  is  well  that  a  pastor  should  highly 
esteem  his  people.  Of  those  committed  to  his  charge, 
Mitchel  testifies  "  that  they  were  a  gracious,  savoury- 
spirited  people,  principled  by  Mr.  Shepard,  liking  an 
humbling,  mourning, heart-breaking  ministry  and  spirit; 
living  in  religion,  praying  men  and  women.  Here  I 
might  have  occasion  of  many  sweet  heart-breakings 
before  God,  which  I  have  so  much  need  of. "  The  new 
minister  was  a  man  of  great  talent,  of  deep  and  various 
learning,  a  diligent  student,  an  eloquent  preacher,  a 
"  most  intense  and  faithful  "  pastor.  He  was  of  a  very 
humble  spirit.  He  wondered  what  the  people  of  God 
saw  in  him,  that  they  so  much  desired  his  labors  among 
them.  He  meditated  much  upon  his  own  character  and 
the  ways  of  God  with  him.  He  wrote  in  his  diary, 
"  0  that  I  could  remember  this  rule,  never  to  go  to 
bed  until  I  have  had  some  renewed,  special  communion 
with  God."    He  sought  to  improve  his  trials.    He  would 


LECTURE   V.  101 

say,  "  When  God  personally  afflicts  a  man,  it  is  as  if  lie 
called  unto  the  man  by  name,  and  jogged  him,  and  said, 
'  0,  repent,  be  humbled,  be  serious,  be  awakened.'  "  Like 
his  predecessor,  he  traced  a  connection  between  his  faults 
and  his  trials.  Kept  from  preaching  by  a  hoarse  cold, 
he  made  this  record  :  "  My  sin  is  legible  in  the  chastise- 
ment ;  cold  duties,  cold  prayers  (my  voice  in  prayer, 
i.e.  my  spirit  of  prayer,  "fearfully  gone),  my  coldness  in 
my  whole  conversation,  —  chastisement  with  a  cold  ;  I 
fear  that  I  have  not  improved  my  voice  for  God 
formerly  as  I  might  have  done,  and  therefore  he  now 
takes  it  from  me."  "  He  wrote  whole  pages  of  lamen- 
tations "  at  the  death  of  several  lovely  children  in  their 
infancy ;  but  he  humbled  himself  under  the  mighty 
hand  of  God,  and  was  exalted  in  due  time.  When 
death  summoned  him,  he  was  ready  to  abide  or  to  depart, 
as  it  should  be  appointed  for  him.  In  near  view  of 
dying,  he  "  fell  to  admiring  the  manifold  grace  of  God 
unto  him,  and  exclaimed,  '  Lord,  thou  callest  me  away 
to  thee  ;  I  know  not  why,  if  I  look  to  myself ;  but  at 
thy  bidding  I  come.'  "  When  he  died,  there  was  general 
mourning  throughout  all  the  churches.  "  It  was  feared 
there  would  be  few  more  such  rich  grapes  to  be  seen 
growing  in  this  unthankful  wilderness." 

With  great  promise  of  success,  he  entered  upon  what 
was  to  form  an  eventful  ministry.  To  attempt  to  state 
the  truth  as  he  preached  it  would  be  to  restate  the  views 
of  his  predecessor.  The  truth  which  Thomas  Shepard 
preached  has  been  the  staple  of  the  preaching  in  this 
pastorate  for  almost  two  centuries  and  a  half,  and  there 
is  no  likelihood  that  it  will  cease  to  be  preached  and 
heard  until  our  Lord  Christ  cometh  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven.     How  close  was  the  agreement  between  your 


102  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

first  two  ministers  is  indicated  by  the  publication  of 
Shepard's  largest  treatise,  based  upon  the  "  Parable  of 
the  Ten  Virgins,"  under  the  direction  of  Mitchel,  with 
a  Preface  by  him,  in  which  he  earnestly  commended  it 
to  his  own  people,  as  a  choice  and  precious  treasure  for 
their  hearts  to  feed  upon.  Mitchel's  preaching  appears 
to  have  been  very  systematic.  "  He  preached  over  a 
great  part  of  the  body  of  Divinity."  "  He  made  a  most 
entertaining  exposition  of  the  book  of  Genesis  and 
part  of  Exodus  ;  he  made  many  incomparable  dis- 
courses on  the  first  four  chapters  of  John ;  occasional 
subjects  he  also  handled  with  much  variety;  he  likewise 
kept  a  monthly  lecture,  where  he  largely  handled  man's 
misery  by  sin  and  salvation  by  Christ,  and  entered  on 
the  doctrine  of  obedience  due  thereupon,  and  vast 
assemblies  of  people  'from  all  the  neighboring  towns 
reckoned  it  highly  worth  their  pains  to  repair  unto 
that  lecture." 

His  ordinary  labors  were  quite  enough  for  him.  But 
he  was  obliged  to  engage  in  others,  less  to  his  taste,  yet 
needing  to  be  done.  Singularly  his  first  public  trial 
came  from  one  from  whom  he  could  have  expected  only 
comfort  and  support.  Henry  Dunster,  President  of  the 
College,  and  a  member  of  this  church,  was,  to  use  the 
language  of  Cotton  Mather,  "  unaccountably  fallen  into 
the  briars  of  antipredo-baptism  ;  *and  being  briar'd  in 
the  scruples  of  that  persuasion,  he  not  only  forbore  to 
present  an  infant  of  his  own  unto  the  Baptism  of  our 
Lord,  but  also  thought  himself  under  some  obligation 
to  bear  his  testimony  in  some  sermons  against  the 
administration  of  baptism  to  any  infant  whatsoever." 
This  seems  to  have  been  in  1653 ;  of  course  this  made 
a  great  excitement  in  the  church  and  the  community. 


LECTURE   V.  103 

The  brethren  of  the  church  were  somewhat  vehement 
and  violent  in  the  expression  of  their  dissatisfaction 
with  the  position  taken  by  one  so  eminent.  They  thought 
that  for  the  good  of  the  congregation,  and  to  preserve 
abroad  the  good  name  of  the  church,  he  should  cease 
preaching  until  he  "  had  better  satisfied  himself  in  the 
point  doubted  by  him."  The  Divine  ordinance  which 
he  opposed  was  held  in  the  highest  veneration  by  our 
fathers.  It  had  come  to  them  from  the  earliest  days  of 
the  church,  and  was  sanctified  before  them  by  all  the 
saintly  associations  of  life.  It  connected  them  with 
God  by  his  ancient  covenant.  It  was  a  heavenly  boon 
to  the  child  upon  whom  parental  faith  and  fidelity 
bestowed  it.  Its  meaning  and  value  and  authority  had 
been  carefully  taught  by  their  first  minister,  of  blessed 
memory.  "With  the  boldness  and  decision  with  which 
they  set  themselves  against  all  wrong,  all  encroachment 
upon  religious  ordinances,  they  lifted  up  their  voice 
against  one  who  presumed  to  contradict  what  the 
church  had  always  held,  and  to  deny  where  Shepard 
affirmed  ;  and  not  even  his  sacred  calling,  nor  his  lofty 
official  position,  could  shield  him  from  censure.  If 
Dunster  might  claim  any  consideration  by  virtue  of  his 
character  and  office,  it  was  to  be  remembered,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  it  was  especially  important  that  such  a  man 
should  be  right,  and  should  be  held  to  "  the  faith  which 
was  once  delivered  unto  the  saints."  But  it  was  not 
merely  because  it  swerved  from  the  faith  of  the  church, 
and  opposed  what  was  deemed  an  important  duty  and 
an  inestimable  privilege,  that  this  new  doctrine  was  so 
greatly  dreaded  and  opposed.  For  a  hundred  years  the 
name  Anabaptist,  denoting  primarily  one  who  held  that 
the  adult  believer,  though  he  had  been  baptized  in  in- 


104  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

fancy,  should  receive  the  rite  again,  had  been  associated 
with  fanaticism  and  extravagance.  In  Germany  this  sect 
denied  the  authority  of  magistrates,  opposed  all  laws, 
made  war  against  governments,  rejected  nearly  all  the 
Christian  doctrines,  and  were  guilty  of  the  most  sedi- 
tious and  vicious  practices.  There  is  no  necessary 
connection  between  their  views  regarding  baptism  and 
the  enormities  into  which  they  hurried.  But  the  his- 
toric connection  was  enough  to  alarm  the  colonists  here 
in  the  critical  period  of  their  infancy.  The  dreaded 
name  was  promptly  applied  to  Dunster  and  those  of  like 
judgment,  who  could  accept  the  religious  doctrine  im- 
plied in  it,  but  could  never  have  done  the  deeds  which 
had  attended  it  in  the  Old  World.  It  is  not  to  our 
present  purpose  to  trace  the  conflicts  of  the  Puritans 
with  those  who  opposed  their  religious  opinions  and 
usages.  But  it  is  due  to  the  Puritans  that  it  should 
never  be  forgotten  that  their  active  proceedings  were 
not  against  persons  who  simply  differed  from  them  in 
points  of  doctrine,  but  against  those  who  added  to  such 
differences  a  hostility  and  opposition  to  the  order  of 
things  which  the  first  settlers  had  secured  at  the  cost 
of  expatriation.  To  have  tolerated  them,  and  let  them 
have  their  way,  would  have  endangered  the  liberty  and 
peace  which  had  been  purchased  at  a  heavy  cost.  Very 
likely  they  went  farther  than  was  necessary  in  their 
opposition  to  some  who  came  among  them.  They  may 
have  exaggerated  their  peril.  But  they  are  not  entirely 
without  excuse.  It  is  hard  to  transfer  ourselves  to 
their  place.  We  do  not  claim  for  them  perfection 
either  in  judgment  or  practice.  They  were  men.  But 
they  were  grand  men,  of  heroic  virtue  ;  an  ancestry  of 
whom  we  have  yet  to  prove  ourselves  worthy.     Mr. 


LECTURE   V.  105 

Peirce,  in  his  excellent  history  of  the  University,  com- 
menting upon  the  case  of  Dunster,  makes  these  distinc- 
tions, which  deserve  notice :  "  Facts  like  these  exhibit 
our  worthy  ancestors  to  some  advantage,  even  with  re- 
spect to  a  virtue  in  which  they  have  been  supposed  not 
to  abound,  —  charity  for  those  who  differed  from  the 

orthodox  standard  of  faith They  were  rigid, 

rather  than  cruel ;  intolerant,  but  not  inquisitorial ; 
and  they  seem  even  to  have  been  willing  that  men 
should  enjoy  their  peculiar  sentiments  without  moles- 
tation, so  long  as  they  refrained  from  obtruding  them 
upon  the  public,  and  conformed  to  those  regulations 
which  were  deemed  necessary  for  the  good  order  of 
society."  Let  not  our  sympathy  for  those  who  claim  to 
be  persecuted  blind  us  to  the  fact  that  our  Pilgrim  and 
Puritan  fathers  had  some  rights.  They  had  paid  dearly 
enough  for  liberty  to  do  as  they  pleased  under  the  law 
of  God.  For  those  who  differed  from  them  the  world 
was  wide,  and  there  were  more  genial  spots  than  this 
New  England  coast. 

Keeping  in  mind  the  inestimable  value  of  the  ordi- 
nance in  question,  and  the  practical  significance  of  the 
term  Anabaptist,  it  is  not  surprising  that  we  find  in 
1644  a  decree  of  the  Court  that  any  persons  who  should 
openly  condemn  or  oppose  the  baptizing  of  infants,  or 
should  go  about  secretly  to  draw  others  from  the  ap- 
probation or  use  of  the  ordinance,  or  should  purposely 
depart  from  the  congregation  when  it  was  administered, 
or  deny  the  lawful  authority  of  the  magistracy,  and 
should  obstinately  continue  in  this  opposition  after  due 
time  and  means  of  conviction,  should  be  sentenced  to 
banishment.  This  was  not  a  decree  against  mere  error- 
ists,  but  against  fanatics  and  seditious  persons.     It  was 


106  FIRST   CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

prompted  by  the  prudence  of  men  themselves  banished 
for  conscience'  sake,  and  for  liberty  and  quiet  in  the 
truth ;  who  dreaded  to  see  here  the  turbulent  scenes 
which  had  been  witnessed  abroad,  and  who  were  com- 
pelled to  mark  the  beginning  of  similar  causes  here, 
which  would  "  bring  guilt  upon  us,  infection  and  trouble 
to  the  churches,  and  hazard  to  the  whole  common- 
wealth." Of  this  law  Winslaw  wrote  that  it  was  designed 
always  to  remain  a  dead  letter,  unless  there  should  arise 
some  extraordinary  necessity  for  enforcing  it.  Two 
years  after  the  passage  of  the  law  the  Court  itself  de- 
clared, "  For  such  as  differ  from  us  only*  in  judgment, 
....  and  live  peaceably  amongst  us,  without  occasion- 
ing disturbance,  &c,  such  have  no  cause  to  complain  ; 
for  it  hath  never  been  as  yet  put  in  execution  against 
any  of  them,  although  such  are  known  to  live  amongst 
us."  Another  law  was  passed  "  for  banishing  such  as 
continued  obstinate  after  due  conviction."  The  preamble 
asserts  that  "  experience  hath  often  proved,  that  since 
the  first  rising  of  the  Anabaptists,  about  one  hundred 
years  since,  they  have  been  the  incendiaries  of  common- 
wealths, and  the  infecters  of  persons  in  main  matters  of 
religion,  and  the  troublers  of  churches  in  all  places  where 
they  have  been,  and  that  they  who  have  held  the  bap- 
tizing of  infants  unlawful  have  usually  held  other  errors 
or  heresies  together  therewith." 

Both  on  religious  and  political  grounds  it  was  no 
small  thing  which  Dunster  did  when,  in  so  sacred  a 
matter,  he  set  himself  against  the  sentiment  of  the 
churches  and  the  rulers.  There  was  no  danger  that  he 
would  be  led  into  the  excesses  which  were  so  much 
dreaded.  But  even  the  ideas  which  he  advanced  upon 
the  simple  matter  of  baptism  would  work  incalculable 


LECTURE   V.  107 

mischief.  It  must  have  been  with  reluctance  that  this 
church  resisted  his  influence  and  rebuked  his  conduct, 
for,  besides  his  official  station,  he  had  been  to  them,  after 
Shepard's  death,  in  the  place  of  a  pastor.  But  he  was 
of  their  own  brotherhood,  and  with  that  inflexible  ad- 
herence to  right  and  duty  which  characterized  them 
they  moved  against  him.  It  was  a  trying  position  which 
Mitch  el  was  placed  in,  —  called  to  oppose  his  own  Presi- 
dent, a  man  greatly  revered  and  beloved.  He  was  slow 
to  proceed  against  him.  He  thought  the  church  too 
much  excited,  and  said  "  that  more  light  and  less  heat 
would  do  better."  But  the  matter  sorely  oppressed  him. 
He  felt  his  own  weakness  to  grapple  with  the  difficulties : 
"  This  business  did  lie  down  and  rise  up,  sleep  and  wake 
with  me."  A  personal  interview  with  Dunster  even 
brought  the  young  minister  into  doubts  and  scruples 
whether  he  was  himself  in  the  right.  Yet  he  thought 
it  was  not  hard  to  discern  that  such  thoughts  were  from 
the  Evil  One.  They  interrupted  his  study  for  the  Sab- 
bath, so  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he  prepared  his 
sermon.  "  After  the  Sabbath  was  over,"  he  writes,  "  and 
I  had  time  to  reflect  upon  the  thoughts  of  those  things, 
those  thoughts  of  doubt  departed,  and  I  returned  unto 
my  former  frame."  He  fasted  and  prayed  ;  he  sought 
help  from  the  neighboring  ministers  ;  then  publicly  and 
formally  opposed  the  new  teachings  of  the  venerated 
President.  He  is  said  to  have  "  preached  more  than 
half  a  score  of  ungainsayable  sermons  "  upon  the  sub- 
ject thus  brought  before  the  church,  and  to  have  ren- 
dered good  service  to  other  churches  in  the  same  cause. 
The  steadfastness  with  which  his  church  still  clings  to 
the  blessed  ordinance  of  infant  baptism  is  a  witness  to 
his  fidelity  and  success. 


108  FIRST   CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

It  appears  that  Dunster  was  indicted  by  the  grand 
jury  for  disturbing  the  ordinance  of  baptism  in  this 
church.  The  records  of  the  County  Court  contain  the 
presentment  against  him.  "  Severall  witnesses  tendered 
to  attest  uppon  their  oathes  respectively,  that  uppon  the 
Lord's  daye,  July  the  30th,  1654,  Mr.  Henry  Dunster 
spake  to  the  congregation  in  the  time  of  the  publique 
ordinance  to  the  interruption  thereof  without  leave, 
which  was  also  aggravated  in  that  he,  being  desired  by 
the  Elder  to  forbeare,  and  not  to  interrupt  an  ordinance 
of  Christ,  yet  notwithstanding  he  proceeded  in  way  of 
complaint,  to  the  congregation,  saying,  I  am  forbidden 
to  speake  that  in  Christ's  name  which  I  would  have  tes- 
tified." Dunster  afterwards  acknowledged  that  for  the 
manner,  he  had  not  spoken  seasonably,  but  for  the  matter, 
"  I  conceived  then,  and  so  do  still,  that  I  spake  the  truth 
in  the  fear  of  God,  and  dare  not  deny  the  same  or  go 
from  it  untill  the  Lord  otherwise  teach  me."  The  Court 
ordered  that  Dunster,  "  at  the  next  lecture  at  Cambridge, 
should  (by  such  magistrate  as  should  then  be  present) 
be  publiquely  admonished  and  give  bond  for  his  good 
behavior."  Dunster  kept  his  place  in  the  College  till 
1654,  when  the  General  Court  passed  a  vote  commend- 
ing it  to  the  pious  care  of  the  officers  of  the  College  and 
the  selectmen  of  the  several  towns,  not  to  permit  any 
persons  to  be  continued  in  the  office  of  instructing  the 
youth  in  the  College  or  schools,  that  have  manifested 
themselves  unsound  in  the  faith.  As  the  views  of 
Dunster  were  well  known,  it  is  probable  that  he  con- 
sidered this  vote  as  directed  against  himself ;  and  after 
five  months  he  resigned  his  office,  and  his  resignation 
was  accepted.  It  is  reported  that  the  great  mass  of 
ministers  and  magistrates  would  have  retained  him  in 


LECTURE    V.  iQg 

the  office  he  had  filled  so  well,  if  he  could  have  been 
persuaded  to  indulge  in  his  peculiar  opinions  in  silence. 
This  could  not  be  effected.  Some  ground  for  the  report, 
which  in  itself  is  reasonable  enough,  is  afforded  by  the 
fact  that  his  successor,  Chauncy,  was  known  to  believe 
that  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  administered  in  the 
evening  of  every  Lord's  Day,  and  that  baptism  should 
be  administered  to  infants  and  adults  only  by  the  dip- 
ping or  plunging  of  the  whole  body  under  water.  He 
was  inducted  into  office  upon  his  agreeing  not  to  dissem- 
inate or  publish  such  tenets,  or  to  oppose  the  received 
doctrines  therein.  He  doubtless  adhered  to  his  agree- 
ment, for  when  he  had  been  in  town  above  a  year  or 
two  the  "  church  kept  a  whole  day  of  thanksgiving  to 
God  for  the  mercy  which  they  enjoyed  in  his  being 
here." 

In  a  petition  of  touching  pathos,  Dunster  begged 
the  privilege  of  remaining  in  the  President's  house 
through  the  winter,  to  which  the  General  Court  agreed. 
He  afterwards  removed  to  Scituate,  where  he  ministered 
to  the  congregation  which  Chauncy  had  left,  and  where 
he  died  in  1659.  He  was  a  man  of  a  remarkable  spirit. 
He  bore  himself  with  dignity  and  meekness  through  his 
trials.  He  would  not  censure  the  conduct  or  motives  of 
those  who  had  been  influential  in  bringing  about  his 
removal.  In  his  last  will  he  called  Chauncy  and 
Mitchel  his  reverend,  trusty,  and  judicious  friends,  and 
appointed  them  appraisers  of  his  library.  He  directed 
that  his  body  should  be  brought  to  Cambridge,  that  he 
might  lia  near  the  College  he  had  loved  so  fondly  and 
served  so  faithfully.  He  was  laid  in  the  old  church- 
yard, but  the  stone  which  marked  the  place  disappeared. 
His  grave  was,  however,  quite  clearly  identified  some 


ft 
HO  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

twenty-five  years  ago,  when  a  new  tablet  was  placed 
over  it.  The  esteem  in  which  Mitchel  held  this  great, 
good  man,  is  evinced  by  an  elegy  which  he  wrote  after 
Dunster's  death,  a  portion  of  which  I  copy,  as  a  tribute 
to  his  own  catholic  spirit :  — 

' '  Where  faith  in  Jesus  is  sincere, 
That  soul,  be  saving,  pardoneth  ; 
What  wants  or  errors  else  be  there, 
That  may  and  do  consist  therewith. 
And  though  we  be  imperfect  here, 
And  in  one  mind  can't  often  meet, 
■  Who  know  in  part,  in  part  may  err, 
Though  faith  be  one  all  do  not  see  't. 

' '  Yet  may  we  once  the  rest  obtain, 
In  everlasting  bliss  above, 
Where  Christ  with  perfect  saints  doth  reign, 
In  perfect  light  and  perfect  love  : 

Then  shall  we  all  like-minded  be, 

Faith's  unity  is  there  full-grown  ; 

There  one  truth  all  both  love  and  see, 

And  thence  are  perfect  made  in  one." 

Mitchel  was  called  to  bear  a  part  in  another  impor- 
tant public  matter,  and  this  also  had  reference  to  the 
baptism  of  children.  The  first  settlers  of  this  country 
were,  for  the  most  part,  members  of  the  church,  and 
their  children  were  duly  baptized.  But  in  the  course  of 
time  there  sprang  up  another  generation  of  children, 
many  of  whose  parents  had  not  renewed  the  baptismal 
vows  and  become  church-members,  and  who,  therefore, 
were  not  entitled  to  receive  baptism  according  to  the 
rules  then  in  force.  It  was  felt  that  the  children  of 
baptized  persons  should  have  a  different  position  from 
Indians  or  other  pagans  who  might  hear  the  word  of 
God.  It  was  held  by  many,  that  if  baptized  parents,  even 
if  not  regenerate,  were  willing  to  renew  the  baptismal 


LECTURE   V.  HI 

covenant,  and  become  subject  to  church  discipline,  their 
children  could  properly  be  baptized.  This  feeling  and 
practice  were  growing  up  in  the  churches,  when  a  synod 
of  the  elders  and  messengers  of  the  churches  was  called. 
This  was  held  in  Boston  in  the  spring  of  1662.  Mr. 
Mitchel  was  a  member  of  this  synod.  The  result  was, 
the  declaration  of  the  independence  of  each  church, 
and  of  the  duty  of  the  communion  of  churches,  —  that 
is,  Congregationalism.  It  was  a  frequent  saying  of 
Mitchel's,  that  "  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  the  spirit  of 
communion."  In  regard  to  the  matter  of  baptism,  the 
result  was,  substantially,  that  the  members  of  the  visible 
church  are  subjects  of  baptism,  and  that  children  are 
members  of  the  same  church  with  their  parents,  and 
when  grown  up  are  under  the  care  of  that  church.  But 
this  does  not  of  itself  admit  them  to  full  communion. 
Yet  when  they  understand  and  publicly  profess  the 
faith,  and  are  upright  in  life,  and  own  the  covenant,  and 
give  themselves  and  their  children  to  the  Lord,  and 
submit  themselves  to  the  government  of  the  church, 
their  children  are  to  be  baptized. 

This  result  was  chiefly  composed  by  Mitchel,  and  when 
it  was  opposed,  its  defence  fell  largely  upon  him.  Thus 
did  he  have  an  important  part  in  shaping  the  early  policy 
of  our  churches.  This  decision  in  regard  to  baptism  is 
known  as  the  "  Half-way  Covenant,"  inasmuch  as  it 
granted  baptism  to  the  children  of  certain  persons  who 
were  not  considered  qualified  for  admission  to  the 
Lord's  Table.  There  arose  in  connection  with  this  the 
practice  of  administering  baptism  to  adults  who  were 
not  esteemed  regenerate,  but  who  owned  the  covenant 
and  submitted  themselves  to  the  care  of  the  church,  and 
were  of  proper  moral  character.  This  gave  such  persons 


112  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

a  certain  standing  in  the  community,  and  was  of  especial 
value  as  long  as  suffrage  was  confined  to  church-mem- 
bers, and  there  were  many  persons  born  here,  or  who  had 
immigrated  hither,  who  otherwise  would  be  denied  the 
full  privileges  of  citizens,  for  which  they  were  fitted  by 
age  and  character.  Our  own  church  records,  besides  the 
list  of  members  in  full  communion,  contain  two  lists, 
both  beginning  in  1696,  the  earliest  date  to  which  our 
present  complete  records  reach.  Of  these  two  subordi- 
nate lists,  one  is  headed,  "  Persons  who  owned  the  cove- 
nant in  order  to  their  children's  being  baptized."  This 
extends  to  1828.  The  other  is  headed,  "  Persons  adult 
who  owned  the  covenant  and  were  baptized."  This  ex- 
tends to  1782,  and  is  quite  largely  made  up  of  the  names 
of  negro  servants.  The  use  of  the  "  Half-way  Covenant " 
for  children  seems  to  have  continued  in  this  church  until 
the  division  of  the  parish,  although  during  the  later 
years  but  few  persons  availed  themselves  of  its  pro- 
visions. 

There  must  always  have  been,  as  there  are  now,  those 
who  esteemed  it  a  hardship  to  be  denied  the  sacraments 
of  the  church  because  they  did  not  profess  a  personal 
faith  in  the  Saviour,  and  give  evidence  to  themselves 
and  others  that  they  had  been  born  of  the  Spirit  of 
God.  To  these  we  may  answer,  in  the  words  of  an  old 
writer,  "  that  Christianity  is  to  be  begun  with  repent- 
ance, and  not  with  the  sacraments  "  ;  that  the  promise 
is,  he  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved ; 
and  that  for  the  penitent,  trustful,  obedient  friends  of 
Christ  the  doors  of  the  church  stand  open  wide. 

Mitchel  was  accounted  a  man  wise  in  council,  and 
of  great  acuteness,  so  that  the  churches  far  and  near 
sought  his  assistance  in  difficult  matters.    His  brethren 


LECTURE    V.  113 

relied  much  upon  his  judgment.  Yet  he  felt  his  own 
inadequacy  to  the  work  thus  put  upon  him.  Once, 
after  he  had  acquitted  himself  admirably  in  an  impor- 
tant matter,  we  find  him  writing,  "  How  do  I  mar 
God's  work,  and  mar  what  he  gives  me  therein,  by  my 
own  folly !  Sometimes  I  am  ready  to  resolve  to  put 
forth  myself  no  more  in  public  work,  but  keep  myself 
silent,  and  unengaged,  as  I  see  others  do."  Then  fol- 
lows a  prayer  for  wisdom.  He  seems  to  have  been 
happiest  in  his  study  and  among  his  own  people.  Yet 
he  would  not  refuse  a  wider  service.  A  few  of  his 
published  writings  still  remain  to  instruct  us. 

From  this  more  public  ministerial  life  of  Mitchel 
we  come  to  consider  events  more  confined  to  our  own 
town  and  church.  What  was  Cambridge  in  Mitchel's 
day  ?  He  became  the  minister  in  1650.  We  have  an  es- 
timate of  the  number  of  persons  and  of  their  estate,  made 
by  the  selectmen  in  1647,  from  which  it  appears  that 
there  were  then  here  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  rata- 
ble persons,  ninety  houses,  about  twenty-six  hundred 
acres  of  land,  two  hundred  and  eight  cows,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  oxen,  twenty  horses,  with  other 
property  of  different  kinds,  making  up  a  total  valuation 
of  £  9,765  16  s.  1  cl,  —  less  than  $  50,000.  Johnson  de- 
scribes Cambridge  in  1652  as  "compact  closely  within 
itself,  till  of  late  years  some  few  straggling  houses  have 
been  built.  It  hath  well-ordered  streets  and  comely, 
completed  with  the  fair  building  of  Harvard  College. 
The  people  are  at  this  day  in  a  thriving  condition  in 
outward  things."  He  confirms  what  others  have  said, 
that  they  "  have  hitherto  had  the  ministry  of  the  word 
by  more  than  ordinary  instruments." 

Attention  was  given  to  the  cultivation  of  orchards, 

8 


114  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

The  orchard  of  the  College  is  mentioned  in  the  town 
records.  The  first  license  for  an  inn  appears  to  have 
been  given  in  1652.  In  1656  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  execute  the  order  of  the  General  Court  for  the  im- 
provement of  all  the  families  in  spinning  and  clothing. 
About  1660  "The  Great  Bridge"  was  built,  at  the  end 
of  what  is  now  Brighton  Street.  A  house  of  correction 
was  erected  about  the  same  time.  In  1662  Mr.  Mitchel 
and  Captain  Daniel  Gookin  were  appointed  by  the 
General  Court  "  licensers  of  the  press." 

About  the  time  of  Mitchel's  ordination  the  second 
meeting-house  was  completed,  which  was  a  house  about 
"  forty  foot  square,  and  covered  with  shingle."  It  stood 
on  Watch-house  Hill,  very  near  the  spot  where  Dane 
Hall  now  stands.  The  town  records  furnish  many  little 
incidents  which  are  of  interest  as  illustrating  the  ways 
of  our  fathers  in  the  church.  In  1652  the  church 
agreed  to  divide  the  farm  in  Shawshine,  and  assigned 
five  hundred  acres  to  Mr.  Mitchel.  The  meeting-house 
and  school-house  were  cared  for,  that  they  might  be 
kept  in  good  order.  In  1656  the  people  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river  requested  that  they  might  have  "  the 
ordinances  of  Christ  amongst  them,  distinct  from  the 
town."  But  the  town  did  not  think  it  expedient  to 
grant  their  request,  and  thus  divide  the  church.  A  few 
years  later  the  inhabitants  of  Cambridge  village  had 
become  so  numerous  that  they  formed  a  distinct  con- 
gregation for  worship,  and  they  were  granted  an  abate- 
ment of  "  one  half  of  their  proportion  of  the  minister's 
allowance,  during  the  time  they  were  provided  of  an 
able  minister  according  to  law."  In  1664  a  new 
church  was  organized  in  Cambridge  village,  which 
afterwards  took  the  name  of  Newton,  from  the  original 


LECTURE    V.  .  115 

name  of  this  place.  This  new  church  was  composed 
principally  of  a  colony  from  our  church.  John  Eliot, 
son  of  the  Apostle  Eliot,  a  graduate  here  in  1656,  under 
Mitchel's  ministry,  was  the  first  pastor.  In  1058  the 
elders  and  deacons  and  selectmen  were  appointed  "  a 
constant  and  settled  power  for  regulating  the  seating  of 
persons  in  the  meeting-house."  In  1660  sundry  young 
men  received  permission  "  to  build  a  gallery  on  the 
south  beam,"  but  the  new  seats  were  to  be  under  the 
control  of  the  seating  authorities.  In  1661  Mitchel 
received  a  further  grant  of  twenty  acres  of  land.  In 
1662  Mr.  Corlet's  scholars  were  so  few  that  the  town 
made  him  an  allowance  of  £  10.  The  town  afterwards 
voted  him  an  annual  grant  of  £20.  There  are  votes 
from  time  to  time  regarding  the  pastor's  maintenance. 
In  1665  the  constables  were  ordered  "  to  make  a  con- 
venient horse-block  at  the  meeting-house,  and  causeway 
to  the  door,  and  to  get  the  windows  and  roof  repaired 
by  the  first  opportunity."  In  the  same  year  we  find 
the  selectmen  calling  upon  several  single  men  and  in- 
mates of  this  town  "  to  give  an  account  of  their  abode 
and  orderly  carriage,"  and  they  were  required  to  give 
satisfaction  of  their  orderly  submission  to  family  gov- 
ernment, or  otherwise  they  must  expect  the  selectmen 
would  order  their  abode  as  the  law  enjoined.  In  1666 
Thomas  Fox  was  ordered  "  to  look  to  the  youth  in  time 
of  public  worship,  and  to  inform  against  such  as  he 
find  disorderly."  In  1661  the  town  was  districted  for 
the  catechising  of  the  youth.  Elder  Champney  and  Mr. 
Oakes  were  appointed  for  the  families  south  of  the 
bridge,  Elder  Wiswall  and  John  Jackson  for  those  at 
the  new  church,  and  so  on. 

AVe  are  indebtad  to  Mr.  Mitchel  for  a  list  of  the  mem- 


116  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

bers  in  his  day,  the  only  church  list  which  we  have 
reaching  farther  back  than  1696,  if  we  except  one  re- 
cently made  up  from  many  sources.  The  original  man- 
uscript, in  Mitch-el's  handwriting,  is  now  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the.  First  Parish.  We  have  a  copy  of  the 
original.  The  list  was  printed  a  few  years  since  by  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Newell.  It  is  entitled  "  The  Church  of  Christ 
at  Cambridge,  in  N.  E.,  or,  the  Names  of  all  the  Members 
thereof  that  are  in  Full  Communion ;  together  with  their 
children  who  were  either  baptized  in  this  Church,  or 
(coming  from  other  churches)  were  in  their  minority  at 
their  present  joyning  ;  taken  and  registered  in  the  11 
month,  1658."  The  catalogue  was  continued  through 
Mitchel's  ministry.  The  first  names  are  Thomas 
Shepard,  Jonathan  Mitchel,  Eichard  Champney,  Edmund 
Frost,  Captain  Daniel  Gookin,  Mr.  Charles  Chauncy. 
There  are  the  names  of  other  persons  who  took  an  active 
part  in  public  affairs  in  their  time.  Our  Triennial  Cata- 
logue gives  us  the  names  of  many  persons  who  during 
their  stay  here  must  have  been  connected  with  this 
congregation.  Among  the  students  of  this  time  were 
William  Stoughton,  Leonard  Hoar,  Michael  Wiggles- 
worth,  Thomas  Shepard,  Increase  Mather,  Samuel  Wil- 
lard,  Solomon  Stoddard,  Abraham  Pierson,  and  others 
who  became  men  of  influence.  The  minister  endeavored 
to  aid  the  young  men  in  acquiring  such  knowledge  and 
principles  as  would  always  be  of  service  to  them.  A 
scholar  himself,  he  was  in  sympathy  with  all  sound 
learning.  His  influence  extended  thus  to  all  the  churches. 
Many  were  the  men  who  were  better  preachers  because 
they  had  been  under  his  teaching.  In  this  way  his  life 
repeated  itself.  President  Mather  said  that  in  his  day 
there  were  not  above  two  or  three  of  our  churches  but 


LECTURE   V.  117 

that  were  supplied  with  ministers  from  this  College, 
which  was  thus  faithful  to  the  pious  design  of  its  founders. 
Mitchel  formed  plans  for  the  prosperity  of  the  College, 
of  which  one  was  "  A  Model  for  the  Education  of 
Hopeful  Students  at  the  College  in  Cambridge."  He 
proposed  to  have  septennial  subscriptions  by  the  more 
worthy  and  wealthy  persons,  to  be  disposed  of  by  trus- 
tees for  the  benefit  of  promising  students.  "  But  through 
the  discouragement  of  poverty  and  selfishness  the 
proposals  came  to  nothing."  There  is  another  little 
glimpse  at  Mitchel' s  influence  in  the  case  of  one  Single- 
tary,  a  young  man  of  twenty-three,  who  was  in  prison 
at  Ipswich  on  a  charge  of  slander  in  calling  one  Godfrey 
a  witch.  There,  as  he  testified,  he  heard  strange  noises, 
and  a  crackling  and  shaking  as  if  the  house  would  have 
fallen.  He  was  naturally  frightened.  "  Yet,  consider- 
ing," he  says,  "  what  I  had  lately  heard  made  out  by 
Mr.  Mitchel  at  Cambridge,  that  there  is  more  good  in 
God  than  there  is  evil  in  sin ;  and  that  although  God  is 
the  greatest  good,  and  sin  the  greatest  evil,  yet  the  first 
Being  of  evil  cannot  weane  the  scales  or  overpower  the 
first  Being  of  good ;  so,  considering  that  the  author  of 
good  was  of  greater  power  than  the  author  of  evil,  God 
was  pleased  of  his  goodness  to  keep  me  from  being  out 
of  measure  frighted." 

These  times  which  we  have  been  reviewing  were 
eventful  days  for  England.  Thomas  Shepard  died  in 
1649,  the  year  in  which  Charles  I.  was  beheaded,  and 
the  Commonwealth  declared.  It  was  a  period  which 
called  for  all  the  prudence  of  these  colonies,  lest  they 
should  in  some  way  become  involved  in  the  affairs  of 
the  mother  country.  They  admired  the  valor  of  Crom- 
well, who  was  the  champion  of  their  own  theories.   But 


118  FIRST  CHURCH  IN   CAMBRIDGE. 

they  refrained  from  soliciting  any  favors  from  the  Pu- 
ritan Parliament.  Massachusetts  kept  silence  when 
Cromwell  was  made  a  monarch.  Her  public  records  do 
not  even  allude  to  his  death.  She  took  advantage  of 
the  time  when  England  was  busy,  and  proceeded  to  coin 
money,  which  might  be  construed  as  a  pretension  of 
independence.  She  suffered  at  the  Eestoration  in  the 
persons  of  Hugh  Peter  and  Henry  Vane,  and  saw  her- 
self dishonored  in  George  Downing.  But  she  was  able 
to  shelter  three  men  who  had  signed  the  death-warrant 
of  the  King  and  fled  from  the  vengeance  of  Charles  II. 
Of  these  Whalley  and  Goffe  came  immediately  to 
Cambridge,  where  they  intended  to  reside.  The  Act  of 
Indemnity,  from  whose  mercy  they  were  excepted,  did 
not  reach  this  country  for  several  months.  Meanwhile, 
and  for  three  months  afterwards,  they  were  treated 
with  consideration,  though  at  last  there  was  a  division 
of  feeling  among  the  magistrates  regarding  their  duty. 
They  were  admitted  into  the  best  society  here.  They 
attended  public  worship  and  lectures,  and  took  part  in 
private  devotional  meetings,  and  were  received  to  the 
Lord's  Table.  In  showing  them  such  favor,  Mitchel  was 
not  aware  of  their  exact  relation  to  their  government. 
He  wrote  afterwards  in  his  own  vindication,  "  Since  I 
have  had  opportunity,  by  reading  and  discourse,  to  look 
into  that  action  for  which  these  men  suffer,  I  could 
never  see  that  it  was  justifiable." 

It  is  evident  that  the  people  had  enough  to  talk  about 
during  the  ministry  of  Mitchel.  "We  know  what  sub- 
jects occupied  their  thoughts.  With  what  sadness  must 
Elder  Frost  and  Elder  Champney  have  conferred  upon 
Dunster's  sad  defection  and  the  church's  duty  !  How 
earnestly  must  Deacon  Bridge  and  Deacon  Marriot  have 


LECTURE   V.  119 

discussed  the  Half-way  Covenant !  while  every  ship 
which  brought  news  from  England  must  have  brought 
commotion  into  the  whole  community.  They  were 
stirring  times.  It  was  a  good  day  to  live  in.  The  men 
were  equal  to  their  place.  It  is  interesting  to  mark 
what  was  taking  place  in  the  world  while  this  church 
was  thus  moving  on  its  way.  The  Waldenses  were 
persecuted  by  the  Piedmontese ;  Quakers  were  suffering 
in  Massachusetts  ;  Pascal  died,  and  Jeremy  Taylor ;  the 
first  idea  of  a  steam-engine  was  suggested ;  "  The  Pil- 
grim's Progress "  was  published ;  Eliot's  Bible  was 
printed ;  London  was  smitten  with  the  great  plague,  and 
devastated  by  the  great  fire  ;  the  Triple  Alliance  was 
formed  for  the  protection  of  the  Netherlands,  —  and 
there  were  many  other  events  of  general  importance. 

This  second  pastorate  ended  with  the  death  of  Mitchel, 
July  9,  1668,  after  a  ministry  of  eighteen  years.  It  was 
more  than  three  years  before  the  church  had  another 
pastor.  The  pulpit  in  the  interim  was  occupied  by 
President  Chauncy  and  others,  as  appears  from  an  ap- 
propriation made  for  their  payment.  The  President  was 
voted  £  50  and  thirty  loads  of  wood.  At  the  same  time 
£  30  was  voted  to  Mistress  Mitchel.  In  this  interval 
there  is  an  order  that  the  constable  see  that  certain 
persons  who  keep  without  the  meeting-house  during  the 
services  on  the  Sabbath,  spending  their  time  unprofit- 
ably  and  dishonoring  God,  do  attend  upon  public 
worship.  Steps  were  taken,  also,  to  build  a  house  for 
the  entertainment  of  the  minister  whom  the  Lord  should 
send  "  to  make  up  the  breach  that  his  afflicting  provi- 
dence hath  made  in  this  place."  There  is  this  memo- 
randum in  the  year  1669  :  — 

"  At  a  publick  meeting  of  the  church  and  towne  to 


120  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

consider  of  suply  for  the  ministry  (the  Lord  having 
taken  away  that  reverant  and  holy  man  from  among  us, 
Mr.  Jonathan  Micthell,  by  death).  It  was  agreed  upon 
at  the  saide  meeting  that  theare  should  be  a  house 
eyther  bought  or  built  for  that  ende,  to  entertayne  a 
minister,  and  a  commity  was  chose  for  that  purpose 
which  tooke  care  for  the  same,  and  to  that  ende  bought 
fower  akers  of  land  of  widdow  Beale,  to  set  the  house 
upon,  and  in  the  year  1670  theare  was  a  house  earected 
upon  the  sayd  land  of  36  foote  long  and  30  foote  broad, 
this  house  to  remaine  the  churches,  and  to  be  the  dwel- 
ling place  of  such  a  minister  and  officer  as  the  Lord 
shall  be  pleased  to  supply  us  withall  during  the  time  hee 
shall  supply  that  place  amongst  us." 

The  house  was  built  in  the  present  College  grounds, 
on  a  glebe  of  four  acres,  nearly  opposite  the  end  of  Holy- 
oke  Street.  In  1726  a  new  front  was  put  upon  the  house. 
Another  order  directed  that  the  school-house  should  be 
taken  down  and  set  up  again,  and  an  allowance  of  40  s. 
was  made  to  Mr.  Corlet  "for  repairing  of  his  house  where 
he  kept  school."  The  town  was  again  districted  for  the 
catechising  of  the  children.  Thus  the  parish  work  went 
on.  After  Mr.  Mitchel's  death,  an  attempt  was  made  to 
secure  Mr.  William  S  tough  ton,  of  the  class  of  1650,  for 
pastor.  This  was  unsuccessful,  and  he  is  afterwards 
found  in  the  law  and  holding  office  in  the  State.  The 
remembrance  of  his  benevolence  is  preserved  among  us 
in  the  name  of  one  of  our  College  Halls,  which  was 
erected  at  his  expense.  An  effort  was  then  begun  to  re- 
call Mr.  Urian  Oakes  from  England.  He  was  born  in 
England  about  1631,  and  brought  to  this  country  by  his 
pious  parents  in  his  childhood.  He  was  a  lad  of  small 
as  he  never  was  of  great  stature.     He  possessed  a  sweet 


LECTURE   V.  121 

nature,  which  he  retained,  and  observers  said  that  if 
good-nature  could  ever  carry  one  to  heaven,  this  youth 
had  enough  to  carry  him  thither.  He  was  a  precocious 
boy.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  "he  published  a  little 
parcel  of  Astronomical  Calculations,"  or  an  Almanac  for 
1650.  He  graduated  here  in  1649,  but  continued  to 
reside  in  College  and  board  in  commons  until  1653. 
"We  get  a  little  insight  into  the  state  of  things  here,  in 
finding  among  the  articles  with  which  he  paid  his  ex- 
penses, a  calf,  a  sheep,  wheat,  sugar,  etc.  He  received 
from  the  College  an  allowance  for  his  scholarship.  He 
preached  his  first  sermon  at  Eoxbury,  but  "  about  the 
time  of  the  Bump"  returned  to  his  native  country, 
where  he  became  chaplain  to  one  of  the  most  noted 
persons  in  the  realm.  He  was  then  settled  at  Titch- 
field,  where,  as  the  historian  narrates,  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  silk-worm  he  wove  his  own  spirit  into 
"  garments  of  righteousness  for  his  hearers."  In  1662 
he  was  silenced,  with  all  the  nonconformist  ministers. 
For  a  time  he  taught  school.  He  then  ventured  to 
resume  preaching.  In  one  season  he  received  a  letter 
from  this  church,  with  a  messenger,  Mr.  William  Man- 
ning, and  a  letter  from  several  magistrates  and  ministers, 
inviting  him  to  come  over  and  become  the  pastor  here. 
He  accepted  the  invitation.  But  the  sickness  and 
death  of  his  wife  hindered  his  coming.  It  does  not 
appear  when  he  was  married,  but  his  wife  is  thought  to 
have  been  the  daughter  of  the  famous  "William  Ames. 
The  call  was  renewed,  but  a  long  sickness  of  his  own 
delayed  his  acceding  to  the  wishes  of  the  church,  so 
that  there  came  to  be  doubt  whether  the  church  should 
longer  wait  for  him.  After  debating  the  matter,  the 
church  was  found  willing  to  wait  until  the  spring  of 


122  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

1671,  and  in  July  of  that  year  he  arrived  ;  or,  as  the 
Magnalia  expresses  it,  "  The  good  Stork  flew  over  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  to  feed  his  dam."  John  Taylor  went  to 
accompany  the  chosen  pastor  to  New  England,  and  we 
have  an  account  of  the  disbursement  of  money  for  the 
travelling  expenses  of  the  party.  There  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  those  unfortunate  misunderstandings  which 
will  arise  to  mar  the  best  intentions,  for  there  is  this 
memorandum :  "  Let  it  bee  taken  notice  of  that  Mr. 
Prout  does  demand  £  13  more  due  to  him."  Let  us  hope 
that  Mr.  Prout  was  satisfied.  In  the  town  records  is  a 
report  of  a  meeting  of  the  church  and  town,  July  16, 
1671,  at  which  it  was  voted :  "  1st,  To  acknowledge 
thankfulness  to  Mr.  Oakes  for  his  great  love  and  self- 
denial  in  parting  with  his  friends  and  concerns  in  Eng- 
land to  come  over  to  us.  2d,  To  manifest  unto  him  the 
continuance  of  the  earnest  and  affectionate  desires  of  the 
church  and  people,  that,  as  soon  as  well  may  be,  he  would 
please  to  join  in  fellowship  here  in  order  to  his  settle- 
ment and  becoming  a  pastor  to  this  church.  3d,  To 
entreat  him  forthwith  to  consent  to  remove  himself  and 
family  into  the  house  prepared  for  the  ministry.  4th, 
That  the  deacons  be  furnished  and  enabled  to  provide 
for  his  accommodation  at  the  charge  of  the  church  and 
town,  and  distribute  the  same  seasonably  for  the  com- 
fort of  him  and  his  family.  5th,  That  half  a  year's 
payment  forthwith  be  made  by  every  one  according  to 
their  yearly  payment  to  the  ministry ;  and  the  one  half 
of  it  to  be  paid  in  money,  and  the  other  half  in  such 
pay  as  is  suitable  to  the  end  intended." 

That  in  these  changes  the  old  pastor  was  not  for- 
gotten is  evident  from  the  next  record  which  concerns 
us:  "Voted,   that   there  be  a  rate  made  of  .£20  and 


LECTURE   V.  123 

paid  to  Mistress  Mitchell  for  her  supply."  Mr.  Oakes 
became  a  member  of  this  church,  and  was  ordained 
pastor,  November  8,  1671.  The  church  had  so  deep 
a  sense  of  the  Divine  favor  in  giving  them  such  a 
minister,  that  they  kept  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving, 
when  Mr.  Oakes  preached  from  St.  Paul's  words,  "  I  be 
nothing,"  in  which  he  sought  to  turn  the  thoughts  of 
men  from  himself  to  the  Lord  whom  he  served.  The 
new  minister  resided  in  the  new  parsonage,  which  con- 
tinued to  be  occupied  by  the  pastors  until  Dr.  Holmes 
removed  from  it  to  a  house  of  his  own.  The  account  of 
disbursements  for  the  ordination  is  a  relic  of  the  olden 
time,  containing,  as  it  does,  "  3  bushells  of  wheate,  2 
bushels  \  of  malt,  4  gallons  of  wine,  beefe,  mutton, 
sugar,  spice  and  frute,  and  other  small  things,"  with 
similar  items,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  nearly  to  £  10. 
In  1672  Oakes  was  made  a  Freeman.  In  1673  he 
preached  the  annual  Election  sermon,  in  which  he  de- 
clared himself  in  favor  of  all  moderation,  and  as  com- 
passionate towards  the  infirmities  of  others,  but  as 
re^-ardins  w  an  unbounded  toleration  as  the  first-born  of 
all  abominations."  He  asserts,  what  must  always  be 
remembered,  that  New  England  was  "  originally  a  plan- 
tation not  for  trade  but  for  religion." 

After  the  death  of  President  Chauncy,  Leonard  Hoar, 
a  graduate  of  1650,  a  clergyman  and  physician,  was 
chosen-  President.  From  his  day  the  office  has  uniform- 
ly been  filled  by  one  of  the  sons  of  the  College.  Mr. 
Hoar's  administration  was  an  unfortunate  one.  There 
soon  came  to  be  "  uncomfortable  motions  and  debates." 
The  students  took  a  strong  dislike  to  him,  and  did  all 
they  could  to  ruin  his  reputation.  Cotton  Mather  says, 
they  "  turned  cudweeds  and  set  themselves  to  travestie 


124  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

whatever  he  did  and  said,  with  a  design  to  make  him 
odious."  He  says  also,  "I  can  scarce  tell  how,"  but  he 
fell  "under  the  displeasure  of  some  that  made  a  figure 

in  the   neighborhood In  a  day  of  temptation, 

which  was  now  upon  them,  several  very  good  men  did 
unhappily  countenance  the  ungoverned  youths  in  their 
ungovernableness." 

Quincy  thinks  that  Oakes  was  one  of  these  injudi- 
cious good  men,  and  intimates  that  he  was  moved  to 
this  opposition  out  of  disappointment  because  he  was 
not  himself  chosen  to  the  place.  But  this  is  mere  con- 
jecture. With  others,  he  resigned  his  seat  as  a  member 
of  the  Corporation,  and  would  not  return  when  re-elected. 

Dr.  Hoar  was  a  man  of  learning  and  of  great  moral 
worth,  and  was  considerate  and  diligent,  but  he  could 
not  overcome  the  opposition  and  bring  the  College  out 
of  its  low  estate.  The  Court  passed  a  vote  in  1674, 
•'  that,  if  the  College  be  found  in  the  same  languishing 
condition  at  the  next  session,  the  President  is  concluded 
to  be  dismissed  without  further  hearing."  There  was 
no  improvement,  and  in  the  ensuing  spring  the  Pres- 
ident resigned.  On  the  day  of  his  resignation,  Oakes 
resumed  his  seat  in  the  Corporation.  He  was  urged  to 
accept  the  Presidency,  but  refused,  and  was  appointed 
superintendent  of  the  College,  with  the  rank  and  duties 
of  president.  He  held  this  office  four  years.  After 
unsuccessful  attempts  to  fill  the  vacancy,  in  1679 
Oakes  was  again  unanimously  elected  president, 
and  he  then  accepted  the  office,  retaining  the  pastoral 
care  of  the  church.  The  House  of  Eepresentatives 
made  a  grant  of  £  90  per  annum  in  country  pay,  in 
addition  to  the  regular  salary,  to  provide  such  assist- 
ance in  the  work  of  the  church  as  should  be  found 


LECTURE   V.  125 

necessary.  The  church  extended  to  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Gookin  "  a  call  to  be  helpful  in  the  ministry,  in  order 
to  call  him  to  office  in  time  convenient."  Mr.  Gookin 
accordingly  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  pastor.  Pres- 
ident Oakes  proved  himself  "  faithful,  learned,  and 
indefatigable  in  all  the  services  "  belonging  to  his  new 
station.  Small  and  poor  as  the  College  was,  hard  as 
were  those  early  times,  it  was  a  station  accounted 
worthy  of  any  man's  acceptance.  He  who  held  it 
ranked  as  head  of  the  clergy,  which  was  really  as  the 
head  of  everything.  It  was  a  part  of  the  bold  foresight 
and  adventurous  hope  of  the  fathers  that  their  college 
would  be  a  power  and  blessing  in  the  land.  It  was  the 
solitary  seat  of  advanced  learning,  and  this  made  the 
position  of  president  one  of  high  honor. 

I  find  little  in  the  town  records  during  Oakes's  min- 
istry which  it  is  interesting  to  notice.  In  1673  there 
is  an  order  for  a  gallery  in  the  meeting-house, "  from 
the  east  beam  to  the  west  beam,  so  far  as  the  roof  do 
not  hinder,  like  that  on  the  other  side."  In  1675  there 
was  a  committee  appointed  by  the  selectmen  "  to  have 
inspection  into  families,  that  there  be  no  by-drinking, 
or  any  misdemeanor,  whereby  sin  is  committed,  and 
persons  from  their  houses  unseasonably."  The  next  year 
Daniel  Cheaver  was  appointed  "  to  sit  amongst  the  little 
boys  at  the  northeast  end  of  the  meeting-house,  to  see 
there  be  no  disorder  amongst  them."  In  1678  there 
was  a  feeling  that  the  pastor  was  not  sufficiently  pro- 
vided for,  and  the  town  made  him  a  gratuity.  In  the 
same  year  leave  was  given  to  three  men  "  to  lengthen 
the  south  gallery  to  supply  them  for  a  seat  on  the 
Sabbath  Day."  This  would  indicate  that  the  house 
was  full.     Among  the  students  were  Nathaniel  Gookin, 


126  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

Thomas  Shepard,  Cotton  Mather,  John  Leverett,  William 
Brattle,  and  others  who  served  their  generation  well. 

Mr.  Oakes  was  eminent  for  his  knowledge  and  his 
piety,  and  was  a  very  engaging  and  useful  preacher. 
He  is  described  as  "  an  uncomfortable  preacher,"  because 
he  drove  men  to  despair  of  seeing  such  another."  Pres- 
ident Mather  says,  "  If  we  consider  him  as  a  divine,  as 
a  scholar,  as  a  Christian,  it  is  hard  to  say  in  which  he 
did  most  excel."  Another,  regretting  that  more  of  his 
works  were  not  given  to  the  press,  remarks,  "  Four  or 
five  of  his  published  composures  are  carried  about 
among  us,  like  Paul's  handkerchiefs,  for  the  healing  of 
our  sick  land."  He  was  for  many  years  subject  to  a 
quartan  ague,  which  frequently  made  him  unable  to 
discharge  his  duties,  and  at  last  he  was  seized  with  a 
malignant  fever.  He  had  been  sick  but  a  day  or  two 
when  his  church,  having  assembled  on  the  Lord's  Day 
expecting  to  have  the  Lord's  Supper  administered  to 
them, "  to  their  horror  found  the  pangs  of  death  seizing 
their  pastor,  that  should  have  broken  to  them  the  Bread 
of  Life."  He  died  on  the  25th  of  July,  1681,  in  the 
fiftieth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  tenth  year  of  his  min- 
istry here,  having  been  for  six  years  also  the  head  of 
the  College.  He  was  buried  in  our  ancient  God's-acre. 
Some  years  since  the  slab  which  had  marked  the  spot 
was  found  in  use  in  the  covering  of  a  culvert  in  one  of 
our  streets,  and  was  converted  into  a  step  for  a  neigh- 
boring church.  It  was  discharged  from  that  service 
with  the  design  of  building  it  into  our  new  church.  But 
through  some  mistake  it  slipped  from  our  hands,  and 
is  now  supposed  to  form  part  of  the  foundation  of  the 
house  of  a  member  of  this  parish.  Another  stone,  with 
an  elaborate  inscription  in  Latin,  now  covers  the  place 
where  his  dust  reposes. 


LECTURE   V.  127 

"We  have  one  memento  of  his  burial  in  a  charge  upon 
the  College  book  of  £  16  16  s.  6  d.,  for  scarfs  and  gloves, 
and  £8  14  s.  for  twelve  rings,  at  Mr.  Oakes's  funeral. 
Thus  passed  away  another  man  who  had  ministered  to 
our  church,  who  "  fed  them  according  to  the  integrity  of 
his  heart,  and  guided  them  by  the  skilfulness  of  his 
hands."  I  have  given  very  brief  illustrations  of  the 
poetical  gifts  of  our  first  two  ministers,  and  will  now 
read  to  you  a  small  portion  of  an  elegy  composed  by 
Mr.  Oakes  upon  one  whom  he  describes  as  "  that  rev- 
erent, learned,  eminently  pious,  and  singularly  accom- 
plished divine,  my  ever  honored  brother,  Mr.  Thomas 
Shepard,  the  late  faithful  and  worthy  teacher  of  the 
church  of  Christ,  at  Charlestown,  in  New  England." 

"  Oh  !  that  I  were  a  poet  now  in  grain  ! 
How  would  I  invocate  the  muses  all 
To  deign  their  presence,  lend  their  flowing  vein, 
And  help  to  grace  dear  Shepard's  funeral  ! 

How  would  I  paint  our  griefs,  and  succors  borrow 
From  art  and  fancy,  to  limn  out  our  sorrow  ! 

"  Cambridge  groans  under  this  so  heavy  cross, 
And  sympathizes  with  her  sister  dear  — 
Renews  her  griefs  afresh  for  her  old  loss 
Of  her  own  Shepard,  and  drops  many  a  tear. 

Cambridge  and  Charlestown  now  joint  mourners  are, 
And  this  tremendous  loss  between  them  share. 

"  Farewell,  dear  Shepard  !  thou  art  gone  before, 

Made  free  of  Heaven,  where  thou  shalt  sing  loud  hymns 

Of  high  triumphant  praises  evermore, 

In  the  sweet  choir  of  saints  and  seraphims. 

Lord  !  look  on  us  here,  clogged  with  sin  and  day  ! 

And  we,  through  grace,  shall  be  as  happy  as  they. 

"  My  dearest,  inmost  bosom-friend  is  gone  ! 
Gone  is  my  sweet  companion,  soul's  delight  ! 
Now  in  a  huddling  crowd  I  'm  all  alone  — 
Almost  could  bid  all  the  world  good-night. 

Blest  be  my  Rock  !  —  God  li^es  —  Oh  !  let  Him  be 

As  He  is  all,  so  All  in  all  to  me  ! " 


LECTURE    VI 

"  My  covenant  will  I  NOT  break,  nor  alter  the  thing  that  is 
gone  out  of  my  lips."  —  Psalm  lxxxix.  34. 

IT  was  in  the  interest  of  liberty  and  piety  that  our 
fathers  separated  themselves  from  the  church  and 
the  land  in  which  they  were  born  and  nurtured,  and 
made  a  new  nation  and  established  new  churches  on 
these  open  shores.  They  planned,  endured,  achieved, 
with  a  faith  which  no  hardship  could  break,  no  toil  ex- 
haust. They  had  confidence  in  themselves  and  their 
undertaking  ;  and  beneath  this,  for  its  support  and  life, 
was  their  confidence  in  God.  They  accounted  them- 
selves in  covenant  with  him,  and  they  followed  whither 
his  hand  pointed  them.  Their  confidence  has  proved 
well  founded.  Success,  more  ample  than  they  sought 
or  saw,  has  crowned  their  work.  Their  monument  is  on 
every  side  of  us.  While  we  read  the  annals  of  this 
ancient  church,  we  recognize  the  great  goodness  of  God. 
Through  all  changes  he  has  been  its  friend.  We  grate- 
fully acknowledge  that  his  assurance  has  been  fulfilled  : 
"  My  covenant  will  I  not  break,  nor  alter  the  thing  that 
is  gone  out  of  my  lips." 

We  have  already  traced  the  history  of  this  church 
from  its  beginning  in  1636  to  the  death  of  its  third 
pastor,  the  Eev.  Urian  Oakes,  in  1681.  When  Mr. 
Oakes  accepted  the  Presidency  of  the  College,  in  1679, 
the  church  gave  "  a  call  to  Mr.  Gookin  to  be  helpful  in 


LECTURE   VI.  129 

the  ministry,  in  order  to  call  him  to  office  in  time  con- 
venient." In  1680  it  was  voted  by  the  town,  that,  of  the 
maintenance  annually  allowed  to  the  ministry,  Mr. 
Nathaniel  Gookin  should  have  £  100,  and  the  remainder 
be  paid  to  Mr.  Oakes.  After  the  death  of  President 
Oakes,  his  assistant  was  invited  to  the  pastorate,  and 
was  ordained  on  the  15th  of  November,  1682.  On  the 
same  day  Deacon  John  Stone  and  Mr.  Jonas  Clark  were 
ordained  ruling  elders  of  the  church.  The  record  of 
the  charges  of  Mr.  Gookin's  ordination  is  preserved,  and 
affords  a  glimpse  of  the  usages  on  such  occasions.  The 
whole  amount  of  the  charges  is  £  13  14s.  2d.,  and  the 
account  includes  "  provision  for  80  persons,"  with 
"burnt  wine,"  sugar,  "flower,"  "  porke,"  "hay  for  the 
horses,"  and  similar  items.  In  this  year,  1682,  it  was 
voted  by  the  town  "  that  500  acres  of  the  remote 
lands,  lying  between  Woburn,  Concord,  and  our  head 
line,  shall  be  laid  out  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the 
ministry  of  this  town  and  place,  and  to  remain  for  that 
use  forever."  Such  was  the  "  provident  and  pious  at- 
tention "  of  the  people  to  the  wants  of  those  who  served 
them  in  holy  things. 

The^Bev.  Nathaniel  Gookin  was  a  son  of  Major- Gen- 
eral Daniel  Gookin,  of  whom  mention  has  been  made  in 
another  place,  the  friend  of  the  Apostle  Eliot  in  his 
labors  among  the  Indians,  and  a  man  distinguished  for 
his  integrity,  benevolence,  and  piety.  Of  this  son  and 
his  ministry  we  know  less  than  of  either  of  the  other 
ministers  of  the  church.  The  records  are  very  incom- 
plete, and  in  the  history  of  his  times  he  seems  to  have 
had  less  part  than  most  of  those  who  have  rilled  this 
pastorate.  He  was  born  in  Cambridge,  October  22, 
1658,  graduated  in  1675,  and  died  in  1692,  in  the  thirty- 

9 


130  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

fourth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  tenth  of  his  ministry.  It 
is  good  testimony  to  his  character  and  ability  that  he 
was  called  to  be  the  associate  of  President  Oakes,  and 
that,  after  his  service  in  that  capacity,  he  was  intrusted 
with  the  care  of  the  church.  The  prominent  facts  of 
his  life  praise  him,  even  while  we  are  not  able  to  follow 
him  from  year  to  year.  His  son  and  grandson  were 
successively  ministers  at  Hampton,  N.  H.,  and  are  highly 
commended  for  their  worth  and  works.  Of  the  latter  it 
is  said  that  he  was  "  both  ways  descended  from  those 
who  have  been  stars  of  the  first  magnitude." 

There  are  a  few  traces  of  our  Mr.  Gookin's  ministry 
yet  to  be  seen.  We  have  an  account  of  the  money  paid 
him  from  time  to  time  for  his  services.  The  amounts 
are  small,  sometimes  less  than  a  pound,  at  other  times 
£  10  and  more.  There  is  a  record  of  the  contri- 
butions on  the  Sabbath  day.  The  sum  collected  in  this 
way  was  usually  about  one  pound.  Of  the  pastor's 
salary  some  £50  appears  to  have  been  collected  in 
the  church.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  the  care  of  the 
poor  by  the  church  in  those  days.  Contributions  for 
their  relief,  and  frequently  for  a  single  person,  were  made 
on  the  Sabbath.  We  have  the  minute  record  _  of  the 
sums  raised  and  the  method  in  which  they  were  em- 
ployed. There  were  also  collections  from  time  to  time 
for  the  redemption  of  captives.  The  laudable  custom 
of  a  contribution  on  every  Lord's  Day  prevailed  here  in 
early  times.  At  one  time  the  scholars  made  their  con- 
tribution, which  was  entered  by  itself,  and  appropriated 
according  to  their  wish  for  the  benefit  of  the  minister. 
I  find  the  students'  contribution  only  in  the  interval 
after  Mr.  Gookin's  death. 

I  have  a  small,  oblong,  leather-covered  book  which 


LECTURE   TT.  131 

has  in  it  the  name  of  Joseph  Baxter  of  the  class  of 
1693,  and  also  of  Benjamin  Colinan  of  the  class  of  1692, 
and  afterwards  the  first  minister  of  the  Brattle  Street 
Church,  in  Boston.  It  contains  reports  of  sermons 
preached  by  Mr.  Gookin  in  1690,  when  both  of  these 
young  men  were  students  here.  Occasionally  there  is 
the  report  of  a  sermon  by  some  other  preacher.  Judging 
from  these  notes,  which  were  carefully  written,  the 
sermons  were  thoughtful,  thorough,  practical,  vigorous, 
and  fitted  to  awaken  and  retain  the  interest  of  the  hear- 
ers. Mr.  Gookin  was  a  Fellow  of  the  College,  and  no 
doubt  gave  to  his  public  duties  and  to  his  private  re- 
lations with  the  students  his  best  care  and  thought. 

In  our  old  records  I  find  this  entry :  "  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Gookin,  our  pastor,  departed  this  life  7th  day  of  August, 
1692,  being  the  Sabbath  day  at  night,  about  nine  or  ten 
o'clock  at  night.  Elder  Clark  departed  this  life  14th 
January  1699  or  1700,  being  the  Sabbath  clay.  Our 
Pastor  Mr.  Nathaniel  Gookin's  wife,  Hannah,  died  14th 
day  of  May,  1702,  and  was  buried  16th  day  of  May  at 
the  town's  charge."  Mrs.  Gookin  was  the  daughter  of 
Captain  Habijah  Savage,  who  was  the  grandson  of  the 
noted  Ann  Hutchinson.  Her  grave  is  in  our  old  bury- 
ing-ground,  and  is  plainly  marked ;  the  grave  of  Mr. 
Gookin  is  not  nowT  marked,  but  a  monument  by  the  side 
of  hers,  whose  inscription  has  crumbled  away,  is  sup- 
posed to  cover  the  spot  where  our  fourth  minister  was 
buried.  In  the  November  following  his  death,  at  a 
public  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  it  was 
voted  that  "  the  selectmen  should  make  a  money-rate 
to  pay  the  expense  and  defray  the  charges,  which 
amounted  to  about  £  18  in  money,  of  our  Pastor 
Gookin's  funeral  charges."  Thus  the  written  record  of 
his  life  closes. 


132  FIRST   CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

Nothing  of  special  importance  seems  to  have  been 
done  in  the  town  during  the  ten  years  of  his  ministry. 
It  is  pleasant  to  see  that  Mr.  Mitchel  was  still  kindly 
remembered,  for  there  is  an  entry  in  1687  of  a  grant  of 
£  10  to  "  Mistress  Mitchel."  The  College  records  have 
an  entry  under  date  of  December  24,  1691,  as  follows  : 
"  At  a  corporation  meeting  of  Harvard  College.  It  is 
ordered,  1.,  That  £5  be  allowed  towards  the  repairing  of 
the  meeting-house  in  Cambridge.  Provided  that  this 
present  allowance  shall  not  be  drawn  into  a  precedent 
for  the  future,  and  that  the  selectmen  shall  renounce  all 
expectation  of  such  a  thing  for  the  future." 

In  1682  the  residents  of  "  Cambridge  Farms,"  now 
Lexington,  petitioned  to  be  set  off  from  Cambridge,  but 
the  people  here  opposed  the  measure,  and  it  was  defeated. 
In  1684  it  was  renewed,  and  one  reason  given  for  press- 
ing it  was  that  they  were  five  miles  from  the  meeting- 
house here,  where  they  had  worshipped.  The  request 
was  again  denied.  In  1691  the  petition  was  once  more 
presented,  and  was  granted  by  the  General  Court  so  far 
as  to  constitute  the  "  The  Farms  "  a  separate  Precinct, 
with  the  right  to  conduct  their  own  parochial  concerns. 
The  church  at  Lexington  was  slathered  from  this  church 
in  1696.  In  1712  a  full  act  of  incorporation  was 
bestowed.  A  satisfactory  arrangement  was  made  of 
the  affairs  in  which  the  new  parish  and  the  old  had 
a  common  interest. 

We  know  some  things  upon  which  those  who  were 
before  us  here  must  have  conversed  in  this  period. 
For  in  this  time  James  II.  ascended  the  throne 
of  England,  and  entered  on  his  troubled  and  bloody 
reign,  to  be  thrust  clown  and  driven  out  when  William 
of  Orange  and  Mary  assumed  the  crown  at  the  hands  of 


LECTURE   VI.  133 

the  -willing  people,  and  brought  in  a  new  era  with  new 
liberties  for  these  colonies.  The  "  Glorious  Revolution  " 
must  have  stirred  the  subjects  of  the  English  throne 
whose  home  was  beyond  the  seas,  and  entered  into  the 
talking  and  praying  heard  along  these  streets  and  in 
the  homes  of  the  people  and  the  house  of  God.  In 
1689  "William  and  Mary  were  proclaimed  in  Boston 
with  great  ceremony.  Then  followed  the  war  with  the 
French  and  the  Indians,  with  its  evils  and  perils,  in 
which  the  people  here  bore  their  part.  In  Massachusetts, 
in  connection  with  the  expedition  against  Canada  in 
1690,  the  first  paper  money  was  issued  by  the  colonies. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Gookin  the  pulpit  was  filled 
by  various  preachers.  We  have  a  long  list  of  their 
names  and  the  sums  paid  to  each.  Among  the  names 
are  Mr.  Mather  and  Mr.  Brattle.  The  amount  paid  for 
a  single  sermon  was  10s.;  for  a  whole  day's  service  £  1 
was  the  regular  stipend.  This  sum  seems,  however,  to 
have  been  increased  by  the  gifts  of  the  students.  There 
is  a  pleasant  record  which  tells  us  that  during  this  inter- 
val Mr.  Increase  Mather  preached  much,  and  gave  his  pay 
to  Mrs.  Hannah  Gookin,  widow,  and  it  was  paid  her. 
She  was  also  paid  for  entertaining  the  ministers  who 
preached  at  this  time.  The  Rev.  Increase  Mather  was 
unanimously  invited  to  assume  the  pastoral  charge  of 
the  church  ;  but  the  people  among  whom  he  had  labored 
for  thirty-six  years  were  not  willing  to  release  him,  and 
this,  with  other  obstacles  to  his  removal,  led  him  to 
decline  the  proposal. 

After  the  office  had  been  vacant  for  some  four  years, 
the  Rev.  William  Brattle  was  invited  to  the  pastorate, 
and  he  accepted  the  call.  He  was  of  a  wealthy  family, 
prominent  in  colonial  days,  whose  name  will  always  be 


134  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

associated  with  Cambridge.  Mr.  Brattle  was  born  in 
Boston,  November  22,  1662,  and  graduated  here  in 
1680.  He  was  soon  chosen  Tutor  in  the  College.  Dr. 
Colman,  who  was  an  undergraduate  at  that  time,  says, 
"  He  was  an  able  and  faithful  tutor.  He  countenanced 
virtue  and  proficiency  in  us,  and  every  good  disposition 
he  discerned  with  the  most  fatherly  goodness,  and 
searched  out  and  punished  vice  with  the  authority  of  a 
master.  He  did  his  utmost  to  form  us  to  virtue  and 
the  fear  of  God,  and  to  do  well  in  the  world  ;  and  dis- 
missed his  pupils,  when  he  took  leave  of  them,  with 
pious  charges  and  with  tears."  We  have  one  instance  of 
his  heroism  and  devotion.  When  the  small-pox  prevailed 
in  the  College,  although  he  -had  not  had  that  fearful 
malady,  and  inoculation  was  unknown,  he  stood  at  his 
post,  visited  the  sick  scholars,  ministering  to  their  bodies 
and  their  souls,  venturing  his  life  for  them.  He  was 
himself  taken  ill,  but  his  sickness  was  of  a  mild  type, 
and  he  soon  recovered.  He  received  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Divinity  in  1692,  when  this  was  conferred 
for  the  first  time.  He  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Corporation 
from  1696  to  1700,  when  he  was  removed,  to  be  re- 
instated in  1703  to  hold  the  office  until  his  death.  At 
the  decease  of  his  brother  Thomas,  in  1713,  he  assumed 
the  duties  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  College,  and  dis- 
charged them  for  two  years  with  intelligence  and 
fidelity.  When  he  retired  from  this  position,  the  College 
stock  amounted  to  £  3,767,  and  its  revenue  from  rents 
and  annuities  to  £  114.  The  only  publication  of  Mr. 
Brattle  now  known  is  a  system  of  Logic,  which  was 
long  used  as  a  text-book  in  college,  and  is  even  now  of 
value,  although  rarely  to  be  found.  He  was  a  generous 
patron  of  learning,  and  a  warm  friend  to  the  College 


LECTURE    VI.  135 

while  he  lived,  and  at  his  death  bequeathed  to  it  £  250, 
the  income  of  which  was  to  be  used  for  the  benefit  of 
some  student  or  students.  It  is  evidence  of  his  scientific 
attainments  that  he  was  made  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  London. 

Mr.  Brattle  was  ordained  on  the  25th  of  November, 
1696.  "We  have  the  old  record  of  the  services.  Mr. 
Brattle  preached  his  own  ordination  sermon  from  1  Cor- 
inthians iii.  6  :  "  I  have  planted,  Apollos  watered  ;  but 
God  gave  the  increase."  The  charge  was  by  Bev.  Increase 
Mather,  who  had  become  president  of  the  College,  and 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship  by  Bev.  Samuel  Willard, 
of  the  Third  Church  in  Boston  ;  Mr.  Morton  of  Charles- 
town  and  Mr.  Allen  of  Boston  also  took  part  in  the 
exercises.  A  sermon  wras  preached  on  the  same  occasion 
by  Mr.  Mather,  from  Revelation  i.  16  :  "  And  he  had 
in  his  right  hand  seven  stars."  Mr.  Brattle's  indepen- 
dence is  shown  in  his  refusal  to  have  an  elder,  who 
wras  a  layman,  join  in  the  laying  on  of  hands  at  his 
ordination.  The  charges  of  his  ordination  are  entered  as 
about  £  20.  There  was  "  laid  out  about  the  repairing 
of  the  ministerial  house  for  Mr.  Brattle  £10  18s.  Sd." 

From  the  beginning  of  this  pastorate  we  have  com- 
plete church  records.  These  give  us  "  a  form  for  the  or- 
daining of  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  used  by  the  Reverend 
President  when  Mr.  Brattle  was  ordained  at  Cambridge." 
It  is  as  follows.  "  Whereas  you  on  whom  we  impose 
our  hands  are  this  day  separated  to  the  gospel  of  God 
and  to  the  office  of  a  pastor  to  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
this  place,  we  do  in  his  name  ordain  you  thereunto. 
And  wTe  charge  you  before  God  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  elect  angels,  that  you  do  the  work  of  a 
minister  of  Christ :  that  you  take  the  oversight  of  this 


136  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

flock  of  God,  not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind  • 
that  you  feed  all  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
hath  made  you  an  overseer ;  in  doctrine  showing  uncor- 
ruptness,  gravity,  sincerity,  sound  speech,  which  cannot 
be  condemned.  That  you  give  yourself  to  reading,  to 
exhortation,  to  doctrine,  that  you  be  an  example  of  the 
believers  in  word,  in  conversation,  in  charity,  in  faith, 
in  purity.  And  if  you  keep  this  charge,  it  will  not  be 
long  before  God  shall  give  you  a  place  in  heaven  among 
his  angels  who  stand  by,  and  are  witnesses  of  the 
solemnity.  And  when  Jesus  Christ,  the  Chief  Shepherd, 
shall  appear,  you  shall  receive  a  crown  of  glory  which 
fadeth  not  away,  and  shall  then  shine  as  the  stars  for 
ever  and  ever." 

This  is  the  covenant  to  which  those  assented  who 
desired  baptism  for  themselves.  "You,  and  each  of 
you  for  yourselves  respectively,  do  now  give  up  your- 
selves to  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  in  an  everlasting  cov- 
enant never  to  be  broken.  You  do  humbly  and  pen- 
itently ask  of  God  forgiveness  for  your  original  sin,  as 
also  for  all  your  actual  transgressions,  and  you  desire 
with  all  your  hearts  to  accept  of  Jesus  Christ  for  your 
alone  Redeemer  and  Saviour.  Solemnly  promising 
that  by  the  help  of  God's  holy  spirit  you  will  endeavor 
to  live  henceforward  more  to  his  honor  and  glory  than 
heretofore  you  have  done ;  abstaining  from  the  vain 
delights  and  pleasures  of  this  evil  world  ;  keeping  under 
the  passions  and  evil  lustings  which  are  within  you  ; 
doing  what  in  you  lies  at  all  times  to  carry  it  both 
towards  God  and  towards  man  as  becomes  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  Christ.  And  particularly  you  all  prom- 
ise to  submit  yourselves  to  the  government  which 
Jesus  Christ  hath  instituted  and  appointed  in  and  over 
his  church." 


LECTURE   VI.  137 

This  is  the  covenant  to  which  certain  persons  agreed 
"  in  order  to  their  children's  being  baptized."  "  You  do 
each  of  you  now  acknowledge  the  God  of  your  fathers 
to  be  your  God ;  you  do  humbly  beg  of  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ,  forgiveness  for  your  sins  original  and 
actual.  You  do  solemnly  promise,  by  the  help  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  to  walk  with  God  according  to  the  rules 
of  his  holy  Word,  and  to  submit  yourselves  to  all  the 
institutions  and  appointments  of  Jesus  Christ  in  his 
gospel,  and  to  bring  up  your  children  in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord." 

In  1722,  "  Mr.  Judah  Monis,  a  Jew  by  birth  and  edu- 
cation, being  converted  to  the  Christian  faith,  owned 
the  covenant,  and  was  baptized  and  declared  a  member 
in  full  communion  with  the  church  of  Christ,  after  a 
prayer  and  discourse  made  by  Mr.  Column  from  John 
v.  46,  and  a  discourse  of  his  own  from  Psalm  cxvi.  10, 
answering  the  common  objections  of  the  Jews  against 
Christ's  being  already  come,  and  giving  a  confession  of 
his  faith  in  the  close.  Sang  part  of  the  110  th  Psalm, 
which  solemnity  was  performed  in  the  College  Hall. 
Soli  Deo  Gloria." 

Mr.  Monis  was  a  useful  member  of  the  church,  and  a 
fund  left  by  him  is  still  used  for  the  benefit  of  the 
widows  and  children  of  Congregational  ministers.  He 
was  instructor  in  Hebrew  in  the  College  from  1722  to 
1760. 

In  1696-97  there  was  important  action  concerning 
the  reception  of  members  to  the  church.  It  is  evident 
that  the  matter  was  the  subject  of  much  discussion.  The 
result  was,  in  brief,  that  persons  desiring  to  unite  with 
the  church  should  privately  give  satisfaction  unto  the 
elders  regarding  their  religious  character,  and  should  be 


138  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

excused,  if  they  so  desired,  from  giving  a  public  rela- 
tion of  their  religious  experience.  The  minister  was 
to  state  to  the  church  the  grounds  of  his  satisfaction 
with  the  candidates  some  time  before  they  were  ad- 
mitted, and  they  were  to  be  propounded  publicly,  that 
if  any  one  knew  any  reason  which  should  justly  bar 
them  from  communion,  he  could  privately  inform  the 
elders.  The  vote  of  the  church  upon  receiving  persons 
thus  propounded  was  to  be  taken  by  "  handy  vote,  or 
silence,  or  any  other  indifferent  sign,"  at  the  discretion 
of  the  elders.  Those  who  were  accepted  by  the  church 
were  publicly  to  make  "profession  of  their  faith  and 
repentance  in  their  covenanting  with  God."  This  is 
essentially  the  method  still  pursued  in  the  church. 
The  consent  to  dispense  with  the  formal,  public  relation 
of  experience  marked  a  change  from  the  ways  of  the 
past  which  certainly  commends  itself  to  our  judgment. 
The  church  has  a  right  to  know  whom  it  is  receiving  to 
its  fellowship,  both  for  their  sake  and  its  own.  Having 
learned  this  to  its  satisfaction,  in  some  simple  and 
pleasant  manner,  the  entrance  to  the  church  should  be 
as  plain. as  the  nature  of  the  act  will  allow.  To  confess 
Christ  before  men  and  make  covenant  with  his  people,' 
and  to  receive  those  who  come  confessing  their  faith 
and  love,  should  enlist  the  best  feelings  of  all  hearts, 
and  be  the  occasion  of  sincere,  sacred  joy. 

The  church-book  gives  the  account  of  the  provision 
made  for  Mr.  Brattle's  support.  He  writes,  "  My  salary 
from  the  town  is  ninety  pounds  per  annum,  and  the 
overplus  money."  For  a  few  years  before  his  death 
he  received  £  100.  The  salary  seems  to  have  been 
raised  chiefly  by  a  collection  every  Sabbath.  From  his 
receipts  I  do  not  find  that  he  received  any  overplus  in 


LECTURE    VI.  139 

money.  But  there  are  long  lists  of  the  donors  of  wood. 
In  1697  he  received  twenty-two  loads.  He  usually 
received  more  than  that  number  till  1712,  when  the 
custom  seems  to  have  been  discontinued  for  a  few 
years.  As  this  discontinuance  of  the  wood  comes  at 
the  same  time  as  the  advance  in  his  salary,  I  presume 
that  the  two  events  were  connected.  We  have  also 
accounts  of  wood  which  he  paid  for  from  time  to  time. 
There  is  a  long  list  in  1G97  headed,  "Sent  in  since 
Nov.  3,  the  day  that  I  was  married.  From  my  good 
neighbors  in  town."  The  list  extends  through  more 
than  a  year,  and  is  composed  of  articles  for  his  table, 
with  the  names  of  the  givers  and  the  value  of  their 
gifts.     The  beginning  of  the  list  is  as  follows  :  — 

"Goody  Gove,  1  pd.  Fresh  Butter,  Sd.;  Mrs.  Bord- 
man,  1  pd.  Fr.  Butter,  8  d. ;  Docf.  Oliver,  a  line  Pork, 
2  s. ;  Sarah  Ferguson,  1  pig,  1  s.  9  d."  There  are  accounts 
of  similar  donations  afterwards.  His  private  affairs 
were  blended  in  his  mind  with  his  office,  for  another 
account  in  the  church-book  is  headed,  "  Housekeeping, 
Dr.  since  we  were  married,  Nov.  3,  '97."  The  list  be- 
gins with  "2  powthering  Tubs,  9  s. ;  1  Tub  of  Beef  154 
pds.  salted  Oct.  29,  £1  18  s.  6  d.  ;  Wine  wn  married  and 
since  to  yB  day,  £  3  ;  Bear,  19  s.  6  d."  ;  and  the  list  con- 
tinues after  this  sort. 

At  the  end  of  the  church-book  of  this  period  are 
various  statements  regarding  Mr.  Brattle's  gardening, 
the  weather,  etc.  Of  1697  we  read  :  "  The  winter  this 
year  was  a  very  severe  winter  for  cold  and  snow.  The 
ground  was  covered  with  snow  from  the  beginning  of 
December  to  the  middle  of  March ;  many  snows,  one 
upon  another;  in  February  it  was  judged  to  be  three 
foot  and  a  half  deep  on  a  level."     "  Charlestown  ferry 


140  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

was  frozen  up,  so  that  the  boat  did  not  go  over  once  from 
January  17  to  February  28,  in  which  time  I  rode  over 
upon  the  ice."  The  summer  following  this  hard  winter 
was  a  very  fruitful  summer.  In  February  and  March, 
1700,  he  was  planting  his  garden.  On  Sabbath  day, 
February  11,  1700,  he  was  "taken  sick  of  a  feaver;  he 
was  "  very  ill,  near  to  death."  In  about  a  fortnight  he 
was  able  io  go  out.  "  Deo  sit  gloria.  Amen."  He  was 
often  interrupted  during  his  ministry  by  "  pains  and 
languishments." 

February  15,  171f,  "The  Eevd.  Mr.  Brattle,  Pastor 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Cambridge,  departed  this 
life."  He  bore  his  sufferings  "  with  great  patience  and 
resignation,  and  died  with  peace  and  an  extraordinary 
serenity  of  mind."  On  the  20th  of  February  he  was 
interred  in  a  tomb  on  the  southeast  side  of  the  old 
burying-ground.  They  laid  him  down  in  hope  of  a 
blessed  resurrection.  "  He  was  greatly  honored  at  his 
interment."  It  was  on  the  day  of  "  The  Great  Snow," 
and  the  principal  magistrates  and  ministers  of  Boston 
were  detained  here  for  several  days.  Mr.  Brattle  died 
in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  twenty-first  of 
his  ministry.  During  his  pastorate  seven  hundred  and 
twenty-four  children  were  baptized,  and  three  hundred 
and  sixty-four  persons  were  admitted  to  the  church. 

In  regard  to  the  amount  of  his  pastoral  work,  we  are 
left  to  such  conjecture  as  we  can  base  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  the  man.  We  trust  he  knew  all  his  people  and 
where  they  lived.  Yet  we  find  Dr.  Colman  saying  of 
his  own  congregation  that  he  knew  not  where  their 
habitations  were,  and  should  be  glad  to  know  them,  that 
he  and  his  associate  might  do  their  duty  to  them.  At 
the  funeral  of  Mr.  Cooper,  he  is  extolled  for  "  knowing 


LECTURE   VI.  141 

where  to  find  the  poor  and  sick  of  the  flock,  when  they 
sent  their  notes." 

Mr.  Brattle  was  a  man  of  marked  politeness  and 
courtesy,  of  compassion  and  charity.  He  had  a  very 
large  estate,  and  he  scattered  his  gifts  with  a  liberal 
hand,  yet  without  ostentation.  He  was  patient  and 
pacific  in  his  temper,  and  "  seemed  to  have  equal  respect 
to  good  men  of  all  denominations."  "With  humility 
he  united  magnanimity  ;  and  was  neither  bribed  by  the 
favor  nor  overawed  by  the  displeasure  of  any  man."  He 
was  of  "  an  austere  and  mortified  life,  yet  candid  and 
tolerant  towards  others."  He  had  great  learning  and 
ability,  and  bore  a  high  reputation  as  a  preacher.  His 
manner  in  the  pulpit  was  "calm  and  soft  and  melting." 
His  manuscript  sermons  show  that  he  was  thoroughly 
of  the  Puritan  school  in  theology;  yet  in  ecclesiastical 
usages  he  was  liberal.  When  the  Brattle  Street  Church 
was  formed  by  men  who  sought  larger  liberties  in  the 
ordering  of  their  ecclesiastical  offices  than  the  other 
churches  afforded,  the  movement  enlisted  his  sympathy. 
The  undertakers  of  the  Manifesto  Church,  as  they  were 
called,  adhered  to  the  Westminster  Confession,  but 
desired  to  have  the  Holy  Scriptures  read  in  public 
worship,  which  was  contrary  to  the  New  England  usage, 
and  also  to  give  a  voice  in  the  choice  of  a  minister  to 
every  baptized  adult  person  who  was  to  contribute  to 
his  maintenance.  They  somewhat  enlarged  the  range 
of  infant  baptism,  and  made  the  public  relation  of 
religious  experience  optional  with  the  candidate  for 
church  membership.  When  Mr.  Colman,  who  was  then 
in  England,  was  invited  to  the  pastoral  charge  of  the 
new  church,  Mr.  Brattle  wrote  to  him,  and  encouraged 
his  acceptance  of  the  call.     "As  for  my  own  part,"  he 


142  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

wrote,  "  I  shall  account  it  a  smile  from  Heaven  upon 
the  good  design  of  these  gentlemen,  if  you  can  send 
them  answer  of  peace."  In  an  old  account-book  still 
in  existence  are  some  records  of  his  private  thoughts. 
Under  date  of  1715,  it  is  written:  "I  can't  but  look 
upon  myself  as  a  standing  instance  of  the  infinite 
power  and  infinite  goodness  of  God.  While  I  consider 
my  unexpressible  emptiness  and  insufficiencies,  my  heart 
can't  but  admire  and  adore  the  power  of  God  and  the 
goodness  of  God  in  helping  me  through  the  duties  and 
difficulties  which  in  his  Providence  He  has  cali'd  me 
to.  0  Lord,  to  thy  name  be  the  praise ;  0  Lord,  my 
hope  is  in  thee ;  Lord,  keep  me  forever  humble.  Amen, 
Amen." 

Dr.  Column's  testimony  to  his  friend  is  hearty  and 
strong.  '-'They  that  had  the  happiness  to  know  Mr. 
Brattle  knew  a  very  religious,  good  man,  an  able  divine, 
a  laborious,  faithful  minister,  an  excellent  scholar,  a  great 
benefactor,  a  wise  and  prudent  man,  and  one  of  the 
best  of  friends.  The  promotion  of  religion,  learning, 
virtue,  and  peace  everywhere  within  reach  was  his  very 
life  and  soul ;  the  great  business  in  which  he  was  con- 
stantly employed,  and  in  which  he  principally  delighted. 
Like  his  great  Lord  and  Master,  he  went  (or  sent)  about 
doing  good.  His  principles  were  sober,  sound,  moderate, 
being  of  a  catholic  and  pacific  spirit." 

The  fifth  minister  of  the  church  ranks  worthily  with 
those  who  preceded  him.  He  bore  the  church  upon  his 
heart.  In  his  last  testament  we  read,  "As  a  close  to 
this  part  of  my  will,  it  is  my  desire  to  consecrate,  and 
with  humility  I  bequeath  and  present  to  the  church  of 
Christ  in  Cambridge  (my  dearly  beloved  flock)  for  a 
Baptismal  Basin,  my  great  silver  basin,  an  inscription' 


LECTURE   VI.  143 

upon  which  I  leave  to  the  prudence  of  the  Reverend 
President,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Simon  Bradstreet."  The 
basin  he  designed  for  our  use  has  passed  from  our  hands. 
But  we  may  gratefully  cherish  his  thought  for  those 
who  were  to  inherit  his  faith  and  to  be  baptized  into 
the  name  of  his  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  honor 
the  memory  of  the  good  pastor  who  so  long  ago  was 
"  translated  from  his  charge  to  his  crown." 

The  town  records  during  the  period  of  Mr.  Brattle's 
ministry  have  some  items  of  more  or  less  interest. 
Here  is  a  vote  that  a  pew  be  made  and  set  up  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  meeting-house  for  the  family 
of  the  minister.  Mr.  John  Leverett  and  Dr.  John 
Oliver  have  convenient  places  provided  for  their  fami- 
lies in  the  meeting-house.  Here  is  a  tax  ordered,  pay- 
able in  money,  for  repairing  the  meeting-house,  ringing 
the  bell,  and  sweeping.  The  little  meeting-house  bell 
was  given  to  the  Farmers,  and  a  new  one  was  received 
with  thanks  from  Captain  Andrew  Belcher.  The  school- 
house  was  ordered  to  be  rebuilt.  A  public  contribution 
was  taken  for  the  relief  of  sufferers  by  a  late  fire.  Such 
charity,  it  seems,  is  not  all  of  our  day,  and  even  the 
Puritans  had  something  of  kindness.  A  grant  was 
made  to  Mrs.  Hannah  Gookin  to  pay  her  house-rent  for 
the  year  1701.  The  selectmen,  with  the  consent  of  the 
pastor,  were  "  empowered  to  rent  about  five  hundred 
acres  of  land  laid  out  for  the  ministry,  so  that  it  shall 
become  profitable  to  the  ministry."  And  here,  February 
28,  1703,  at  a  town  meeting,  it  is  ordered  "  that  the 
inhabitants  apprehend  it  necessary  at  this  time  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  building  a  new  meeting-house,  and  in  order 
thereunto  there  was  chosen  then"  a  committee  of 
seven,  "  to  consider  of  the  model  and  charge  of  building 


144  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

said  meeting-house,  and  report  of  the  same  to  the 
inhabitants."  In  1706  the  third  meeting-house  was 
erected  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  second,  and  the  first 
service  in  it  was  held  on  the  13th  of  October  in  that 
year.  The  Corporation  of  the  College  voted  £  60  to- 
wards the  building  of  this  house,  and  instructed  Mr. 
Leverett  and  the  treasurer  to  "  take  care  for  the  build- 
ing of  a  pew  for  the  president's  family,"  and  about  the 
students'  seats ;  "  the  charge  of  the  pew  to  be  defrayed 
out  of  the  College  treasury."  Thus  we  come  to  the 
close :  "6  th  February,  171f .  At  a  meeting  of  the  In- 
habitants orderly  convened,  voted,  that  the  charges  for 
wines,  scarfs,  and  gloves  for  the  bearers  at  the  funeral 
of  our  late  pastor,  Eev.  Mr.  William  Brattle,  be  defrayed 
by  the  town  under  the  direction  of  the  deacons  and 
selectmen." 

The  period  we  are  now  reviewing  presented  many 
matters  of  interest  to  those  who  were  then  here.  We 
are  able  to  recall  their  thoughts  in  some  good  measure. 
Queen  Mary  died  in  1694,  and  eight  years  afterwards 
King  William  III.  1697  brought  the  peace  of  Eyswick, 
closing  the  war  between  England  and  France.  The 
reign  of  Queen  Anne  was  chiefly  occupied  by  the  "  War 
of  the  Spanish  Succession."  Thus  even  this  country 
was  for  twenty-five  years  preceding  the  peace  of 
Utrecht  kept  in  the  commotion  of  war.  A  large  part 
of  the  men  were  in  actual  service,  while  those  at  home 
were  compelled  to  guard  their  houses  and  families 
against  treacherous  foes.  It  is  estimated  that  during 
these  wars  not  less  than  eight  thousand  of  the  young 
men  of  New  England  and  New  York  fell  by  the 
sword,  or  by  disease  contracted  in  the  service.  Most 
of  the  families  mourned  for  friends  dead,  or  carried  into 


LECTURE    VI.  145 

cruel  captivity.  It  was  a  gloomy  time  ;  the  resources 
of  the  country  were  greatly  reduced,  fields  were  untilled, 
towns  lay  in  ashes.  Truly,  through  scenes  of  fire  and 
blood  has  our  inheritance  come  clown  to  us.  In  1693 
the  second  college  in  the  United  States  was  founded  in 
Virginia,  taking  the  name  of  the  new  sovereigns ;  and 
seven  years  later  Yale  College  came  into  being.  1702 
was  a  year  of  great  sickness  in  Boston  and  New  York. 
In  1704  "The  Boston  News-Letter"  was  started,  the 
first  newspaper  published  in  America.  In  1708  the 
Saybrook  Platform  was  adopted  in  Connecticut.  The 
reign  of  Queen  Anne,  the  last  sovereign  of  the  House  of 
Stuart,  was  marked  also  by  the  constitutional  union  of 
England  and  Scotland,  which  ended  the  prolonged  con- 
test between  those  countries.  This  reign  was  distin- 
guished not  only  for  its  military  and  political  achieve- 
ments, but  also  for  its  progress  in  science  and  literature. 
It  was  the  time  of  Addison,  Steele,  Pope,  Swift,  Locke, 
and  Newton,  and  has  now  the  name  of  "  The  Augustan 
Age  of  England." 

But  we  must  return  to  our  own  history.  After  the 
death  of  Mr.  Brattle,  his  place  was  filled  by  the  Piev. 
Nathaniel  Appleton.  Mr.  Appleton  was  born  at  Ips- 
wich, December  9,  1693,  and  was  the  son  of  the  Hon. 
John  Appleton,  one  of  the  King's  Council,  and  for 
twenty  years  a  Judge  of  Probate  in  Essex  County.  His 
mother  was  the  daughter  of  the  Eev.  President  Kogers. 
He  graduated  in  1712,  and,  although  receiving  generous 
offers  to  establish  him  in  business,  adhered  to  his 
previous  purpose  to  prepare  himself  for  the  ministry. 
He  preached  here  for  a  short  time,  when,  by  the  con- 
current vote  of  the  church  and  the  town,  he  received  an 
invitation  to  become  the  pastor  of  the  church.      He 

10 


146  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

entered  upon  that  office  on  the  9th  of  October,  1717. 
At  his  ordination  Dr.  Increase  Mather  preached  from 
Ephesians,  iv.  12 :  "  For  the  perfecting  of  the  saints, 
for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of 
the  body  of  Christ."  He  also  gave  the  charge.  Dr. 
Cotton  Mather  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship. 
The  Eev.  Mr.  Angier  of  Watertown  and  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Rogers  of  Ipswich  joined  with  the  Mathers  in  the  laying 
on  of  hands.  The  town  records  show  an  addition  of 
£  15  to  the  taxes  of  the  year,  toward  defraying  the  ex- 
penses of  this  ordination.  President  Leverett  presided 
over  the  deliberations  of  the  church  and  congregation 
with  regard  to  the  settlement  of  a  pastor,  and  when  Mr. 
Appleton  had  been  chosen  by  a  large  majority,  he  closed 
the  entry  of  the  fact  in  his  diary  with  "  Laus  Deo." 
This  election  gave  great  pleasure  to  the  Corporation  of 
the  College,  who  at  once  chose  the  new  minister  as  a 
Fellow  in  Mr.  Brattle's  place,  not  even  waiting  for  his 
ordination.  He  filled  this  office  with  great  fidelity  and 
discretion,  essentially  promoting  the  interests  of  this 
"  important  seminary."  At  the  Commencement  in  1771 
the  College  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity,  in  consideration  of  his  "  having  been  long  an 
ornament  to  the  pastoral  character,  and  eminently  dis- 
tinguished for  his  knowledge,  wisdom,  sanctity  of  man- 
'  ners,  and  usefulness  to  the  churches,  and  having  for 
more  than  fifty  years  exerted  himself  in  promoting  the 
interests  of  piety  and  learning  in  this  society,  both  as  a 
minister  and  as  a  Fellow  of  the  Corporation."  This  honor 
was  the  more  marked,  in  that  this  degree  had  only  once 
been  conferred  since  the  founding  of  the  College,  and 
that  was  seventy-eight  years  before,  when  Increase 
Mather  was  the  recipient.    President  "Wadsworth  wrote 


LECTURE   VI.  147 

of  Mr.  Appleton,  ten  years  after  his  establishment 
here,  "  I  have  often  thought  it  is  a  great  favor,  not  only 
to  the  church  and  town  of  Cambridge,  but  also  to  the 
College,  and  therein  to  the  whole  Province,  that  he  is 
fixed  in  that  public  post  and  station,  assigned  by  Provi- 
dence to  him.  I  pray  God  long  to  continue  his  life  and 
health,  and  make  him  more  and  more  a  blessing  to  all 
he's  concerned  with.  Tho'  he's  but  young,  yet  his 
labors  are  very  instructive  and  profitable  !  "  His  con- 
nection with  the  College  continued  until  1779,  a  period 
of  more  than  sixty  years.  His  pastorate  was  the  longest 
the  church  has  ever  known.  The  written  record  of  his 
labors  as  pastor  comprises  little  more  than  long  lists  of 
persons  received  to  the  church,  of  adults  and  children 
who  were  baptized,  and  of  persons  married.  The  sum- 
ming up  is  as  follows  :  Children  baptized,  2,048  ;  adults, 
90.    Admissions  to  the  fellowship  of  the  church,  784. 

All  through  this  long  ministry  the  pastor  was  busy 
in  the  duties  of  his  office,  preaching  the  word,  striving 
for  the  salvation  of  those  under  his  care,  and  for  the 
edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ.  Traces  of  his  vigilance 
still  remain.  We  have  the  record  of  church  discipline 
in  1731  and  afterwards,  when  certain  individuals  had 
fallen  into  open  sin.  At  length,  on  the  26  th  of  February, 
173^,  the  church  and  whole  congregation  met  in 
solemn  assembly,  and  spent  the  forenoon  in  prayer 
and  preaching.  The  sermon  was  from  Ezra  ix.  5, 
6  :  "  And  at  the  evening  sacrifice  I  arose  up  from 
my  heaviness ;  and  having  rent  my  garment  and  my 
mantle,  I  fell  upon  my  knees,  and  spread  out  my  hands 
unto  the  Lord  my  God,  and  said,  0  my  God,  I  am 
ashamed,  and  blush  to  lift  up  my  face  to  thee,  my  God  ; 
for  our  iniquities  are  increased  over  our  head,  and  our 


148  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

trespass  is  grown  up  unto  the  heavens."  In  the  afternoon 
several  votes  were  passed,  expressing  the  apprehension 
of  a  general  decay  of  piety,  in  that  many  had  fallen  into 
evil  ways  who  had  been  baptized  and  were  reckoned 
the  children  of  the  church,  and  those  who  had  publicly 
owned  the  covenant;  and  some  who  were  in  full  com- 
munion did  neglect  their  business,  frequent  taverns  and 
public  houses,  follow  unlawful  gaming,  and  indulge  in 
excessive  drinking  of  strong  drinks,  and  were  profane  in 
their  conversation,  whereby  they  greatly  dishonored  the 
Christian  name  and  profession,  broke  the  good  and 
wholesome  laws  of  the  land,  misspent  their  precious 
time,  impoverished  their  families,  blasted  their  reputa- 
tion, injured  their  health,  unfitted  themselves  for  busi- 
ness, ran  into  innumerable  snares  and  temptations,  and 
extremely  hazarded  their  immortal  souls. 

The  assembly  apprehended,  further,  that  these  evils 
resulted  from  a  neglect  to  watch  over  one  another, 
according  to  their  covenant  obligations.  With  contri- 
tion before  God,  they  promised  to  amend  their  lives,  to 
discountenance  and  discourage  such  sinful  practices,  and 
to  deny  themselves  even  their  lawful  liberty  to  prevent 
others  from  stumbling  thereat.  They  promised  to  exer- 
cise the  mutual  watchfulness  and  helpfulness  which  the 
gospel  enjoins.  And  they  voted,  finally,  that  a  suitable 
letter  should  be  prepared  by  the  pastor,  and  sent  to  the 
innholders  and  retailers  of  ardent  spirits,  exhorting 
them  to  do  what  in  them  lay  to  prevent  intemperance, 
gaming,  or  any  disorder  at  their  houses.  The  record 
closes  with  this  petition  :  "  And  now,  0  Lord  God  of 
our  fathers,  keep  these  things  forever  in  the  imagina- 
tions of  the  thoughts  of  the  heart  of  this  people,  and 
prepare  their  heart  unto  thee." 


LECTURE   VI.  149 

These  general  measures  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
sufficiently  effective ;  for  two  years  later,  at  a  meeting 
of  the  church,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  consult 
with  the  pastor  "  about  such  measures  as  shall  be 
thought  most  likely,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  to  reform 
the  growing  disorders  that  are  among  us."  The  com- 
mittee in  its  report  advised  that  nine  of  the  brethren 
be  appointed  "to  inspect  and  observe  the  manners  of 
professing  Christians,  and  such  as  are  under  the  care 
and  watch  of  this  church."  They  were  to  inquire  into 
any  sinful  and  disorderly  behavior  of  which  they  might 
hear,  and  administer  appropriate  admonition,  with  faith- 
fulness, but  yet  with  all  meekness  and  tenderness  ;  and 
if  such  private  treatment  did  not  succeed,  they  were  to 
advise  with  the  pastor  about  more  public  action.  In 
case  of  such  open  and  scandalous  offences  as  required 
the  public  notice  of  the  church,  they  were  to  take  such 
steps  as  were  necessary  to  bring  the  matter  before  the 
church.  But  the  appointment  of  this  committee  was 
not  to  be  construed  as  excusing  private  Christians  from 
that  watch  over  the  good  name  and  good  character  of 
the  church  to  which  they  were  pledged.  The  committee 
was  appointed,  and  entered  upon  its  work.  Year  by 
year,  after  that,  we  have  a  record  like  this :  "  The 
brethren  voted  to  choose  a  committee  to  inspect  the 
manners  of  professing  Christians,  etc.,  according  to  the 
method  agreed  upon  April  13,  1737."  From  time  to 
time  we  have  the  record  of  the  work.  It  is  plain  that 
the  church  meant  to  deal  faithfully  with  those  under  its 
care,  but  there  is  a  spirit  of  forbearance  which  shows 
that  they  did  not  mean  to  encroach  on  the  Christian 
liberty  of  any  one.  The  offences  which  were  brought 
under  the  consideration  of  the  church  were  all  such  as 


150  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

no  church  could  overlook,  and  retain  its  self-respect 
and  preserve  its  character. 

Another  matter  which  enters  largely  into  the  records 
concerns  the  lands  belonging  to  the  church.  There  is  a 
catalogue  signed  "  1ST.  A."  and  entitled,  "  Lands  belong- 
ing to  the  Church  and  Congregation  in  Cambridge  for  the 
Use  of  the  Ministry."  The  list  includes  three  small  lots 
of  four,  eight,  and  three  acres,  and  a  lot  of  forty  acres  in 
Menotomy,  called  Bare  Hill.  Besides  these,  there  was 
a  lot  of  twenty  acres  in  Newton,  "  the  gift  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Beale  to  the  church  of  'Christ  in  this  place  and  town  of 
Cambridge,  whereof  he  was  a  member."  And  a  farm  of 
five  hundred  acres  at  the  farther  end  of  Lexington,  to- 
wards Bedford,  given  in  former  time  by  the  proprietors 
of  the  town  for  the  use  of  the  ministry.  It  was  found 
expedient  and  convenient,  in  Mr.  Appleton's  day,  to 
sell  this  land  in  Newton  and  Lexington.  The  proceeds 
of  the  former  were  invested  in  bonds,  and  the  income 
was  to  be  used  as  the  church  should  direct.  Of  the 
money  received  from  the  sale  of  the  Lexington  lands, 
£  130  was  reserved  for  the  erection  of  a  new  parsonage. 
The  rest  was  applied  to  the  purposes  of  the  original 
donation.  Inasmuch  as  the  proceeds  of  the  Lexington 
farm  were  to  be  for  the  minister's  benefit,  the  minister 
made  an  arrangement  with  the  town  whereby  he  was  to 
receive  two  thirds  of  the  interest  which  accrued  by  the 
investment  of  the  money  received  by  the  sale  of  the 
land.  The  remaining  third  was  to  be  added,  by  the 
minister's  own  proposal,  to  the  principal.  The  fund 
was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  a  treasurer  nominated  by  the 
minister  and  approved  by  the  town.  Mr.  Appleton 
solemnly  charges  the  people  of  the  parish  to  abide 
strictly  by  the  arrangement  which  had  been  made,  and 


LECTURE   VI.  151 

never  suffer  their  third  of  the  interest  to  be  applied  to 
any  other  use  than  the  increasing  of  the  fund.  He  ex- 
presses the  hope  that  no  successor  of  his  in  the  ministry 
will  ever  desire  or  demand  more  than  two  thirds  of  the 
interest  of  this  money.  "  Nay,  let  me  add,  what  some  of 
you  may  easily  compute,  that  by  keeping  this  vote  and 
agreement,  of  adding  one  third  of  the  interest  to  the 
principal,  sacred  and  inviolable,  that  by  the  3d  or  4th 
generation  it  will  of  itself  afford  a  comfortable  and 
decent  support  for  a  minister,  without  any  tax  upon 
the  people." 

The  result  which  the  prudent  pastor  anticipated  could 
hardly  prove  desirable.  It  is  best  that  the  institutions 
of  religion  should  be  sustained  by  the  voluntary  offerings 
of  those  who  enjoy  them.  Our  church  has  been  entirely 
saved  from  any  perils  which  might  have  attended  the 
course  which  he  proposed.  But  the  minister  of  1800 
writes  that  this  fund,  by  its  own  accumulation,  and  by 
the  addition  of  the  product  of  ministerial  lands  sold  in 
1795,  has  become  greatly  auxiliary  to  the  support  of  the 
ministry.  From  time  to  time  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  examine  into  the  state  of  the  church  stock  of  moneys, 
bonds,  or  notes,  in  the  hands  of  the  deacons.  In  1773 
such  a  committee  make  a  long  report,  in  which  they 
recommend  that,  after  allowing  the  funds  to  increase 
by  interest  for  fourteen  years,  for  the  next  fifteen  years 
one  third  of  the  interest  shall  be  used  for  the  support  of 
the  minister,  and  that  after  that  time  two  thirds  of  the 
fund  shall  be  thus  employed,  and  the  remainder  be 
added  to  the  principal.  In  order  that  the  fund  may  be 
increased,  the  committee  also  recommend  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church  that  whenever  they  come  together 
"  to  commemorate  the  death  and  sufferings  of  Him  who 


152  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

spared  not  to  shed  his  precious  blood  for  us,  they  would 
express  their  thankful  remembrance  of  the  benefit  they 
have  received,  by  cheerfully  contributing  a  small  part 
of  the  substance  with  which  God  has  blessed  them  for 
the  important  purposes  of  continuing  and  spreading 
amongst  mankind  that  pure  and  undefiled  religion 
which  Christ  appeared  on  earth  to  propagate."  They 
enter  into  an  elaborate  statement  "  to  show  that  a  very 
small  part  of  our  substance,  properly  applied,  would 
produce  a  very  considerable  effect"  in  enlarging  the 
resources  of  the  church. 

As  we  turn  the  pages  of  the  church-records,  we  come 
upon  various  matters  which  were  of  importance  in  their 
day,  and  are  still  of  interest.  Here  is  Mr.  Appleton's 
wood-account,  beginning  in  1729  :  "  My  good  friends 
and  neighbors  have  for  several  years  past,  in  the  fall  of 
the  year,  brought  me  a  considerable  quantity  of  wood 
gratis,  some  years  between  thirty  and  forty  loads,  some- 
times above  forty  loads,  which  good  and  laudable  custom, 
that  had  been  dead  for  some  years  before  the  Eeverend 
Mr.  Brattle's  death,  was  revived  by  good  Father  Pattin 
about  ten  years  ago,  and  continued  by  the  friendship  of 
the  people."  Then  follow  the  names  of  the  donors  year 
by  year,  with  the  quantity  of  their  gifts. 

In  1732  the  people  of  the  northwesterly  part  of  the 
town  were  formed  into  a  separate  Precinct,  and  in  1739 
a  church  was  gathered  there,  and  to  this  second  church 
our  church  gave  £25,  "  to  furnish  their  communion- 
table in  a  decent  manner."  This  was  a  partial  realiza- 
tion of  the  communion  of  saints.  In  1731  and  1734 
additions  were  made  to  the  communion-service  of  our 
own  church  by  ^private  gifts.  In  1740  "  the  Hon. 
Jacob  Wendell,  Esq.,  from  his  regard  to  this  place," 


LECTURE   VI.  153 

presented  "  to  the  minister  of  the  first  church,  for  the 
time  being,  a  large,  handsome  Bible  for  the  use  of  the 
church,"  and  the  gift  was  acknowledged  with  thanks. 
Here,  in  1757,  is  the  account  of  a  church-meeting,  at 
which  "  some  of  the  honorable  brethren  of  the  church 
moved  that  for  the  future  it  might  not  be  insisted  upon 
with  such  who  should  be  admitted  into  the  church  to 
come  forth  and  stand  in  the  front  alley  or  aisle  at  the 
time  of  their  admission  ;  alleging  that  it  was  disagree- 
able and  surprising  to  some  persons,  and  had  been 
offered  by  way  of  objection  by  some  persons,  and  had 
been  such  a  stumbling-block  to  them  as  to  prevent  their 
offering  themselves  for  admission ;  and  considering  it 
was  but  a  mere  circumstantial  thing,  and  a  matter  of 
indifference,  and  considering  also  that  the  practice  of 
other  churches  allowed  persons  to  stand  in  their  own 
proper  places  all  the  time  of  admission.  Therefore  the 
brethren  agreed  to  leave  the  matter  to  the  discretion  of 
the  pastor,  at  the  same  time  manifesting  that  they  did 
not  insist  upon  the  standing  in  the  aisle  or  alley,  and 
that  they  should  be  well  satisfied  if  they  appeared  in 
any  of  the  seats  or  pews  that  joined  upon  the  front  alley, 
so  as  to  be  fairly  before  the  pastor  and  in  view  of  the 
assembly ;  and  to  this  no  one  of  the  brethren  offered  the 
least  objection,  although  they  were  desired  to  do  it  if 
they  had  any  objection  to  offer."     Good,  honest  men, 

sound  but  not  stiff,  and  sure  that  God  would    have 

t 

mercy  and  not  sacrifice. 

The  Eevolution  was  drawing  on.  As  early  as  1765 
the  people  of  the  town  had  formally  instructed  their 
representatives  to  give  no  aid  to  the  operation  of  the 
Stamp  Act,  but  to  do  all  they  could  for  its  repeal.  And 
they  ordered  that  their  action  should  be  recorded  in  the 


154  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

town-books,  "  that  the  children  yet  unborn  may  see  the 
desire  that  their  ancestors  had  for  their  freedom  and 
happiness."  We  do  see  it  after  a  hundred  years,  and 
give  thanks  at  every  thought  of  their  daring  and  devo- 
tion. I  need  not  tell  again  what  Cambridge  did  in  the 
beginning  and  consummation  of  the  long  struggle  which 
gave  being  to  our  nation.  Cambridge  was  long  the  head- 
quarters of  the  American  army,  and  the  old  meeting- 
house stood  in  the  midst  of  stirring  scenes,  and  opened 
its  doors  and  extended  its  ministrations  to  the  citizen 
soldiers.  There  Washington  and  his  companions  in 
arms  came  to  worship.  There  the  delegates  from  the 
towns  of  the  State  met  in  1779,  and  framed  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Commonwealth,  which  the  next  year 
was  ratified  by  the  people.  We  may  be  sure  that  the 
preaching  of  the  venerable  pastor  glowed  with  patriotic 
fire,  and  that  his  prayers  were  the  intercession  of  a  man 
who  believed  in  God  and  loved  liberty ;  who  was  in  the 
spirit  of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill,  and  taught  his 
people  the  worth  of  life,  and  the  honor  of  a  death  for 
one's  country  ;  who  cheered  them  in  the  day  of  darkness 
and  defeat,  and  rejoiced  with  them  when  victory  revived 
their  hope  and  crowned  their  toils  and  trials.  Of  all 
this  they  said  little ;  but  we  know  the  men.  Here, 
in  1774,  when  public  and  political  affairs  wear  a  dark 
and  gloomy  aspect,  they  are  keeping,  with  other  towns, 
a  day  of  humiliation  and  prayer.  Yet  they  are  watch- 
ful of  the  church  while  solicitous  for  the  country,  for 
on  this  very  Fast  Day  they  choose  two  deacons. 

We  have  a  glimpse  of  the  times  in  some  of  the  re- 
ceipts for  his  salary  which  the  minister  gave  during  the 
Revolution.  Here  is  one  in  which  he  acknowledges  the 
receipt  of  £  3  2  s.  to  complete  the  payment  of  his  salary 


LECTURE.  VI.  155 

in  Continental  bills,  which,  "  although  they  are  exceed- 
ingly depreciated,  yet,  considering  the  contributions  and 
subscriptions  they  have  afforded  for  my  relief,  and  con- 
sidering the  additional  grant  they  have  made  to  my 
salary  for  1778,  I  accept  of  this  in  full  for  my  salary 
for  the  year  1777."  His  salary  had  been  £  100,  and 
was  probably  but  little  changed  ;  yet  the  next  year  he 
receipts  for  £  600,  and  the  next  for  £  750,  and  in  1783  for 
£  2,000  paper  currency,  and  £  25  silver  currency.  There 
is  a  touching  pathos  in  the  simple  statement  of  the 
good  man  as  he  took  his  bills  and  called  them  money, 
"  although  they  are  greatly  depreciated." 

He  was  close  upon  ninety  years  old.  We  find  this 
fact  of  his  advancing  years  creeping  into  the  records. 
1777,  April  25.  "Whereas  our  Eev.  and  very  aged 
Pastor  is  at  present  under  such  bodily  infirmities  as  to 
render  it  doubtful  whether  he  will  be  able  to  administer 
the  sacraments  on  the  approaching  Sabbath,  voted,  in 
such  case,  it  is  agreeable  and  is  the  desire  of  this  church 
that  the  Hon.  and  Eev.  President  Langdon  should  ad- 
minister the  same,  and  at  any  other  times  when  necessary 
occasion  calls  for  it." 

The  following  Thursday  was  to  have  been  a  day  of 
"  Public  Fasting  and  Prayer  " ;  but  "  the  aged  pastor, 
through  bodily  disorders,  was  unable  to  carry  on  the 
services  of  the  Fast,  neither  could  any  help  be  obtained, 
so  that  there  was  no  public  service  on  the  Fast."  By  1782 
the  people  had  begun  to  talk  seriously  of  the  need  of  hav- 
ing "  a  more  fixed  and  settled  provision  for  the  preach- 
ing and  administering  the  gospel  ordinances  among 
them,"  and  it  was  decided  by  the  church  that  it  was 
desirable  presently  to  settle  a  minister,  if  the  right  man 
could  be  found,  and  the  parish  committee  were  desired 


156  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

to  consult  the  parish  in  the  matter.  Here  is  Mr. 
Appleton's  record  of  July  30,  1783,  which  "was  ob- 
served as  a  day  of  Fasting  and  Prayer  by  the  church 
and  congregation  to  seek  of  God  divine  direction  and 
assistance  in  the  important  affair  of  procuring  a  more 
fixed  and  settled  preaching  and  administration  of  the 
word  and  ordinances  among  us,  considering  the  very 
advanced  age  and  growing  infirmities  of  me  their  aged 
pastor.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Eliot  began  with  prayer :  Rev. 
Mr.  Cushing  preached  A.  M.,  Rev.  Mr.  Jackson  began 
with  prayer :  Rev.  Mr.  Clarke  preached  P.  M." 

At  the  general  desire  of  the  brethren  of  the  church, 
"  as  well  as  in  compliance  with  his  own  inclination  and 
earnest  wishes,"  the  pastor  called  a  meeting  of  the 
church  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  one  to  be  his  colleague 
in  the  ministerial  office,  if  the  church  should  see  fit. 
When  the  meeting  was  held,  the  pastor  was  unable  to 
attend,  and  Dea.  Aaron  Hill  was  moderator.  A  com- 
mittee was  appointed  "  to  wait  on  the  President  of  the 
University,  and  request  him  to  pray  with  the  brethren 
on  the  present  occasion."  The  president  complied  with 
the  request,  and  received  the  thanks  of  the  brethren. 
This  means,  I  suppose,  that  he  came  to  the  meeting 
and  offered  the  opening  prayer.  It  was  voted  by  a  large 
majority  to  proceed  to  the  choice  of  a  colleague  pastor, 
and  the  Rev.  Timothy  Hilliard  was  chosen  to  that 
office.  The  parish  concurred  in  this  action,  and  Mr. 
Hilliard  accepted  the  invitation.  A  council  of  the 
neighboring  churches  was  called,  and  on  the  27th  of 
October,  1783,  the  pastor  elect  was  installed.  He 
preached  on  the  occasion  from  Titus  ii.  15:  "Let  no 
man  despise  thee."  The  Rev.  Mr.  Clarke  of  Lexington 
prayed  before  the  charge,  which  was  given  by  the  Rev. 


LECTURE   VI.  157 

Dr.  Cooper  of  Boston.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Cushing  of  Wal- 
tham  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  "  The  greatest 
order,  decency,  and  sobriety  were  observable  through 
the  whole.     Soli  Deo  Gloria." 

Mr.  Appleton  very  soon  gave  the  church-book  into 
the  care  of  his  colleague,  which  was  virtually  relinquish- 
ing the  staff  which  his  decrepit  hand  could  no  longer 
hold.  In  the  following  February  "  he  departed  this  life, 
in  the  ninety-first  year  of  his  age  and  sixty-seventh  of 
his  ministry."  "  1784,  February  15.  This  day  his  funeral 
solemnity  was  attended.  The  body  was  carried  to  the 
meeting-house.  Eev.  Mr.  Cushing  of  Waltham  prayed. 
The  surviving  pastor  of  this  church  delivered  a  funeral 
address.  A  funeral  anthem  was  sung,  after  which  the 
procession  advanced  to  the  burying-place,  and  the  body 
was  committed  to  the  tomb."  A  long  Latin  epitaph 
covers  the  stone  upon  his  grave  ;  but  the  last  lines, 
which  are  in  his  own  tongue,  balance  the  rest :  "  They 
that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firma- 
ment, and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the 
stars  for  ever  and  ever." 

We  have  already  noted  some  indications  of  the 
esteem  in  which  the  sixth  pastor  of  this  church  was 
held.  He  was  possessed  of  the  learning  of  his  time. 
He  labored  to  instruct  his  people.  His  preaching  was 
with  great  plainness  and  simplicity.  "  He  frequently 
borrowed  similitudes  from  familiar,  sometimes  from 
vulgar,  objects ;  but  his  application  of  these  was  so  per- 
tinent, and  his  utterance  and  his  air  were  so  solemn,  as 
to  suppress  levity  and  silence  criticism."  He  expounded 
the  whole  New  Testament,  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  and  other 
parts  of  the  Bible.  His  aim  in  this  was  to  promote 
practical  piety.     He  made  use  of  such  events  as  were 


158  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

engaging  the  attention  of  the  people,  that  he  might  lead 
them  to  serious  thoughts.  He  was  vigilant  and  careful 
in  his  parochial  administration.  "  So  great,"  says  Dr. 
Holmes,  "  was  the  ascendency  which  he  gained  over  his 
people,  by  his  discretion  and  moderation,  by  his  con- 
descension and  benevolence,  by  his  fidelity  and  piety, 
that,  while  he  lived,  they  regarded  his  counsels  as 
oracular ;  and,  since  his  death,  they  mention  not  his 
name  but  with  profound  regard  and  veneration."  He 
was  venerable  for  his  age,  but  more  for  his  piety.  "  His 
religion,  like  his  whole  character,  was  patriarchal.  In 
his  dress,  in  his  manners,  in  his  conversation,  in  his 
ministry,  he  may  be  classed  with  the  Puritan  ministers, 
of  revered  memory,  who  first  came  to  New  England." 
He  was  a  popular  man,  and  his  church  was  "  respectable 
for  wealth,  influence,  and  numbers."  He  had  great 
weight  of  character,  and  made  himself  felt  through  the 
province.  His  praise  was  in  all  the  churches.  Eccle- 
siastical councils  sought  his  advice.  He  was  a  wise 
counsellor,  and  strove  for  the  peace  and  order  of  the 
churches.  His  portrait,  by  Copley,  which  hangs  in  the 
College,  represents  him,  very  fittingly,  as  holding  in  his 
hand  a  volume  of  Dr.  Watts,  entitled  "  Orthodoxy  and 
Charity." 

Dr.  Appleton's  manuscripts  were  burned  in  the  fire 
in  Boston  in  1794 ;  but  a  goodly  number  of  his  sermons 
are  in  print,  and  also  a  work  published  in  1728  and 
entitled,  "  The  Wisdom  of  God  in  the  Eedemption  of 
Man."  He  left  a  legacy  of  £  40  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor  of  the  church,  and  one  of  £26,  Massachusetts 
currency,  to  the  College  for  a  scholarship,  in  addition 
to  £  30  previously  given  by  him.  Dr.  Appleton  was 
married  about  the  year  1720  to  Margaret,  daughter  of 


LECTURE   VI.  159 

the  Rev.  Henry  Gibbs  of  Watertown.  Dr.  Sprague's 
"  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit "  furnish  this  incident. 
"  It  is  a  current  tradition  in  the  family,  that,  while  he 
was  wooing  the  lady,  he  happened  to  call  one  day  soon 
after  a  rival  suitor  had  made  his  way  to  her  father's 
house,  leaving  his  horse  fastened  near  the  gate.  The 
Cambridge  minister,  on  his  arrival,  tied  his  own  steed 
to  the  fence,  and  coolly  unloosed  the  other,  and  with  a 
smart  stroke  of  his  whip  sent  him  off  down  the  street. 
He  then  went  into  the  house,  and  told  his  rival  that  he 
had  just  seen  a  horse  running  away  at  full  speed,  and 
asked  if  it  was  his.  Whereupon  the  owner  rushed  out 
after  his  stray  beast,  leaving  Dr.  Appleton  in  possession 
of  the  field.  He  made  the  most  of  his  opportunity,  offered 
himself,  and  was  accepted."  They  had  twelve  children. 
One  son  was  a  merchant  in  Boston,  and  a  zealous 
patriot  during  the  Eevolution,  and  for  many  years  held 
the  office  of  Commissioner  of  Loans.  Two  daughters 
married  clergymen. 

There  are  some  other  events  which  fall  into  this 
period,  which  should  have  a  mention  here.  After  Mr. 
Appleton  had  been  invited  to  the  pastorate,  a  committee 
was  appointed  by  the  town  to  consider  the  expediency 
of  raising  the  meeting-house,  so  that  an  upper  tier  of 
galleries  could  be  put  in.  The  College  agreed  to  bear 
one-seventh  part  of  the  expense  of  this  alteration,  on 
condition  that  certain  parts  of  the  house  should  be  re- 
served for  the  use  of  the  scholars.  I  do  not  find  any 
account  of  the  work,  and  presume  that  the  project  was 
abandoned.  In  1746  the  parish  proposed  to  repair  the 
meeting-house,  and  the  College  again  agreed  to  pay  a  por- 
tion of  the  cost.  There  was  a  difference  of  opinion  re- 
garding the  amount  of  work  which  should  be  done,  and 


160  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

the  extensive  repairs  contemplated  were  abandoned ;  but 
it  would  appear  that  the  immediate  want  was  met  by 
making  the  roof  tight,  and  mending  the  windows,  doors, 
and  seats.  It  is  probable  that  some  thought  the  time 
was  not  distant  when  a  new  house  would  be  needed,  and 
that  it  would  be  poor  economy  to  spend  much  money  on 
the  old  one.  In  1753  the  inhabitants  voted  to  build  a 
new  meeting-house  upon  some  part  of  the  hill  on  which 
the  house  was  then  standing.  The  Corporation  of  the 
College  agreed  to  pay  one  seventh  part  of  the  cost  of 
the  new  house,  upon  certain  conditions.  The  students 
were  to  have  the  improvement  of  the  whole  front  gal- 
lery, and  one  of  the  best  pews  was  to  be  set  apart  for 
the  president.  A  petition  was  to  be  sent  to  the  General 
Court,  asking  such  help  in  the  affair  as  should  seem 
meet  to  their  wisdom  and  goodness.  The  College 
afterwards  agreed  to  add  £  20  to  the  previous  sub- 
scription. There  was  a  protracted  negotiation  to  arrange 
matters  between  the  parish  and  the  College,  but  on 
November  17,  1756,  the  house  was  raised,  and  Divine 
service  was  first  performed  in  it  July  24,  1757.  This 
fourth  house  remained  until  1833.  "  In  this  edifice," 
writes  President  Quincy,  "all  the  public  Commence- 
ments and  solemn  inaugurations,  during  more  than 
seventy  years,  were  celebrated ;  and  no  building  in 
Massachusetts  can  compare  with  it  in  the  number  of 
distinguished  men  who  at  different  times  have  been 
assembled  within  its  walls."  During  the  investment  of 
Boston  in  1775,  when  Washington  had  his  army  here, 
he  worshipped  with  his  companions-in-arms  in  that 
church.  In  1779  the  delegates  from  the  different  towns 
of  Massachusetts  met  in  that  church,  and  framed  the 
Constitution  of  the  State.   When  Lafayette  was  here,  in 


LECTURE   VI.  161 

1824,  upon  his  "  triumphal  visit,"  the  address  of  wel- 
come was  given  to  him  within  those  consecrated  walls. 
A  large  stone  from  the  foundation,  one  which  very  likely 
had  served  the  preceding  houses,  has  been  built  into 
the  wall  of  the  church  we  are  now  completing,  and  is 
inscribed  with  the  date  "  1756." 

In  1749-50,  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  parish 
"  to  treat  with  the  governors  of  the  College,  in  order  to 
their  being  assisting  of  said  Precinct  in  the  support  of 
Mr.  Appleton."  Here  are  appropriations  for  schools  ;  a 
law  that  if  any  dog  is  found  in  the  meeting-house  on 
the  Lord's  Day,  in  time  of  public  worship,  the  owner 
shall  be  fined ;  officers  are  appointed  to  preserve  order ; 
provision  is  made  for  the  care  of  the  "  French  Neutrals  "  ; 
the  court-house  is  to  be  rebuilt,  as  far  as  possible  from  the 
materials  of  the  meeting-house  about  to  be  taken  down. 
In  1761  an  Episcopal  church  was  opened  here,  at  the 
desire,  says  the  historian,  "  of  five  or  six  gentlemen,  each 
of  whose  incomes  was  judged  to  be  adequate  to  the 
maintenance  of  a  domestic  chaplain.  A  missionary 
was  appointed  to  the  care  of  the  church  by  the  English 
'  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts.' " 
In  1764  the  College  suffered  a  severe  loss  by  the  burn- 
ing of  Harvard  Hall,  which  contained  the  library,  the 
philosophical  apparatus,  and  various  objects  of  interest. 
"  In  one  stormy  winter's  night,  the  scanty  but  precious 
accumulations  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-six  years  "  were 
lost.  But  the  friends  of  the  cherished  college,  if  cast 
down,  were  not  destroyed,  and  immediate  measures  were 
taken  to  erect  a  new  building,  and  replace  what  had 
been  lost,  as  far  as  it  could  be  done.  In  1780  the 
church-members  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  made 
known  their  desire  to  be  dismissed  and  formed  into  a 
n 


162  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

distinct  church,  and  a  new  church  was  organized  there 
on  the  23d  of  February,  1783.  It  was  in  Dr.  Apple- 
ton's  pastorate  that  Whitefield  was  exciting  the  country 
with  his  marvellous  preaching.  He  came  to  Cambridge 
in  1740  to  see  and.  to  preach,  and  made  a  sad  report  of 
the  lack  of  discipline,  the  low  state  of  religion,  and  the 
reading  of  bad  books.  "  I  chose  to  preach  from  those 
words :  '  We  are  not  as  many  who  corrupt  the  word  of 
God ' ;  and  in  the  conclusion  of  my  sermon  I  made  a 
close  application  to  tutors  and  students."  The  Faculty 
of  the  College  published  a  pamphlet  bearing  their  tes- 
timony "  against  the  Eeverend  Mr.  George  Whitefield 
and  his  conduct."  Mr.  Whitefield  replied,  modifying 
some  things  which  he  had  said,  expressing  his  good 
will  to  the  College,  asking  forgiveness  if  he  had  done 
any  wrong,  and  offering  forgiveness  to  those  who  had 
wronged  him.  Among  the  donors  of  a  late  date  we 
find  his  name,  and  the  acknowledgment  of  his  journal 
and  a  collection  of  books,  and  also  of  his  influence  by 
which  he  procured  a  large  number  of  valuable  books 
from  several  parts  of  Great  Britain.  The  career  of 
Whitefield  in  this  country,  and  certainly  in  Cambridge, 
must  have  elicited  the  eager  interest  of  the  church  ;  and 
we  may  be  certain  that  the  liberal  and  prudent  pastor 
stood  for  the  defence  of  the  College,  and  showed  himself 
always  the  friend  of  moderation  and  order,  of  zeal  with 
knowledge,  and  of  that  work  which  stands  the  tests  of 
this  world  and  the  judgment  of  another.  There  were 
blessed  results  of  the  wide  and  deep  movement  of  that 
time.  Tutor  Flynt  wrote  in  his  diary,  "  Many  students 
appeared  to  be  in  a  great  concern  as  to  their  souls,  first 
moved  by  Mr.  Whitefield's  preaching,  and  after  by  Mr. 
Tennent's  and  others,  and  by  Mr.  Appleton,  who  was 


LECTURE    VI.  163 

more  close  and  affecting  in  bis  preaching  after  Mr. 
Whitefield's  being  here." 

But  the  great  events  of  this  period,  so  far  as  this 
land  and  the  world  were  concerned,  were  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  by  these  colonies  and  the 
realization  of  independence  through  the  struggles  and 
sufferings  of  a  long  contest.  The  spirit  which  dared 
and  achieved  the  end  ruled  here.  The  brief  records 
of  the  town  ring  with  the  cries  of  men  bent  on  lib- 
erty, —  men  who  knew  their  rights  and  meant  to  pos- 
sess them,  and  were  willing  to  endure  for  the  gen- 
erations to  come.  England  changed  her  sovereigns  ; 
three  Georges  ruled.  In  France  Louis  XV.  finished  his 
reign,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  well-meaning,  but 
irresolute  and  ill-fated  grandson.  These  changes  did 
not  mean  so  much  for  the  world  as  the  rise  of  this  free 
Republic,  whose  destiny  is  more  glorious  than  its  his- 
tory, if  the  patriotic  devotion  of  the  fathers  shall  be 
the  cherished  heritage  of  the  children. 

It  remains  to  say  a  few  words  more  of  our  own 
history.  The  death  of  Dr.  Appleton  left  Mr.  Hilliard 
the  sole  pastor  of  the  church.  Mr.  Hilliard  was  the 
son  of  a  worthy  farmer  and  deacon  of  Kensington, 
N.  H.,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1746.  In  his  youth  he 
showed  an  unusual  facility  in  acquiring  knowledge,  and 
an  amiable  and  cheerful  disposition.  He  graduated  here 
with  high  honor  in  1764.  "While  in  college  he  made 
such  advances  in  the  various  branches  of  useful  learning 
as  laid  the  foundation  for  that  eminence  in  his  profes- 
sion to  which  he  afterward  attained.  In  1768  he  was 
appointed  chaplain  of  Castle  William.  After  a  few 
months'  service  there,  he  was  elected  a  tutor  in  this 
College,  and  for  two  years  and  a  half  discharged  the 


164  FIRST   CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

duties  of  that  office  with  fidelity.  He  was  invited  to 
settle  in  the  ministry  at  Barnstable,  and  was  ordained 
there  April  10,  1771.  He  remained  there  for  twelve 
years,  winning  the  affection  of  his  people  and  the  esteem 
of  all  who  knew  him.  The  strong  sea-air  proved  injuri- 
ous to  his  health,  and  he  resigned  his  parish.  On  recov- 
ering his  health,  he  resumed  his  professional  labors,  and, 
after  preaching  here  for  a  short  time,  was  invited  to 
become  the  colleague  of  the  venerable  pastor,  and  soon 
became  the  sole  pastor  of  this  church,  as  we  have  already 
seen.  He  died  on  the  Lord's  Day  morning,  May  9, 
1790,  in  the  seventh  year  of  his  ministry  here,  and  the 
forty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  The  records  of  his  ministry 
contain  nothing  beyond  the  usual  routine  of  parish 
work.  There  were  one  hundred  and  forty-five  baptisms, 
and  twenty-three  persons  were  admitted  to  the  church. 
The  "  committee  to  inspect  the  manners  of  professing 
Christians  "  seems  to  have  been  discontinued  after  Dr. 
Appleton's  death.  Care  was  taken  of  the  funds  belong- 
ing to  the  church,  provision  was  made  for  the  poor,  and 
the  late  pastor's  legacy  was  applied  according  to  his 
wish.  The  church  received  new  members,  children 
were  baptized,  men  and  women  were  joined  in  marriage, 
and  the  grave  claimed  its  own.  Thus  the  work  went 
on.  The  word  of  God  was  preached  as  aforetime,  and 
men  were  called  to  obey  the  gospel,  which  "unfolds 
the  glorious  plan  of  redemption  which  was  laid  in  the 
counsels  of  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world."  The  years  of  the  Eevolution 
and  those  which  immediately  followed  it  were  a 
dreary  time  for  the  churches,  and  for  the  interests  of 
piety  in  the  land.  Many  had  been  drawn  away  from 
the    restraints   of    the   law   and    the    sanctuary,   and 


LECTURE    VI.  165 

exposed  to  the  excitement  and  temptation  of  a 
soldier's  life,  often  among  the  irreligious  and  un- 
principled of  other  lands.  With  the  war  uppermost 
in  the  minds  of  the  people,  religion  suffered  a  decline. 
Errors  of  belief  and  practice,  corruptions  of  divers  kinds, 
came  in  like  a  flood.  The  Sabbath  lost  its  sacredness, 
the  Bible  its  authority,  the  church  its  sanctity.  The 
preacher  had  his  task  doubled.  The  pastor  here  felt 
the  force  of  the  conflict  and  the  greatness  of  the  issue. 
He  put  on  the  panoply  of  God  for  a  warfare  that  was 
not  carnal  but  spiritual,  to  win  for  men  a  liberty  which 
was  perfect  and  eternal.  Amid  the  last  echoes  of  the 
Revolution  he  preached  the  gospel  of  peace.  And  when 
a  proclamation,  nailed  to  the  court-house  door,  offered 
pardon  to  the  rebels,  in  the  meeting-house  he  preached 
the  forgiveness  of  sins. 

Through  all  his  ministry  Mr.  Hilliard  was  studious 
and  earnest.  Both  the  learned  and  unlearned  were 
profited  by  his  judicious,  instructive,  practical  dis- 
courses. His  sermons  were  of  cost  to  him,  and  there- 
fore were  of  worth  to  his  hearers.  The  government  of 
the  University  regarded  him  as  "an  excellent  model 
for  the  youth  under  their  care  wno  were  designed 
for  the  desk,  and  considered  his  introduction  into 
this  parish  a  most  happy  event."  He  excelled  in 
public  prayer,  and  was  "tenderly  attentive  to  the 
sick  and  afflicted."  His  whole  temper  was  amiable, 
candid,  liberal.  While  not  ranking  among  what  are 
called  popular  preachers,  he  had  excellent  pulpit  tal- 
ents, and  his  ministrations  were  highly  acceptable  to 
the  churches.  His  reputation  was  increasing  when  he 
died.  He  had  much  influence  in  ecclesiastical  councils 
and  associations,  and  his  brethren  paid  him  a  marked 


166  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

respect.  He  was  watchful  of  the  interests  of  the  Uni- 
versity, of  which  he  was  a  son  and  an  overseer. 

The  publications  of  Mr.  Hilliard  were  five  sermons, 
including  a  Dudleian  Lecture.  I  copy  a  few  sentences, 
that  we  may  see  how  well  his  doctrinal  views  agreed 
with  those  held  by  this  church  from  the  beginning. 

"It  is  observed  that  the  Saxon  word 'gospel'  signifies 
welcome  news  :  it  brings  us  the  news  of  an  Almighty 
Friend  and  compassionate  Saviour,  who  came  from 
heaven  to  deliver  us  from  the  condemning  sentence 
of  the  Divine  Law,  and  to  restore  us  to  the  image  and 

favor  of  our  Maker Amidst  all  the  variety  of  sects 

and  parties  into  which  Christians  have  been  divided, 
they  have  been  generally  agreed  with  respect  to  the 
capital  and  most  important  truths  of  religion.  All 
Christians  believe  the  existence  and  perfection  of  the 
one  supreme  God,  the  author  and  supporter  of  the 
universe,  and  his  providential  government  of  the  world ; 
they  believe  the  advent  of  his  best-beloved  Son  to 
redeem  and  save  a  perishing  world ;  they  own  that 
salvation  is  by  grace  through  faith ;  that  a  Divine  in- 
fluence on  the  mind  is  necessary  to  produce  and  cul- 
tivate a  holy  and  heavenly  temper  ;  that  Christ,  having 
been  delivered  for  our  offences,  was  raised  from  the  dead 
by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  '  was  vested  with '  supreme 
dominion,  and  constituted  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead ; 
they  believe  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  a  future 
retribution  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body." 

In  a  sermon  from  the  text,  "  But  not  as  the  offence 
so  also  is  the  free  gift,"  he  says :  "  The  advantage  here 
mentioned  may  consist  in  this,  that  all  who  die  do  not 
suffer  this  calamity  merely  for  the  sin  of  Adam,  but 
oftentimes  bring  death  upon  themselves  for  their  own 


LECTURE    VI.  157 

sins  ;  but  all  that  are  justified,  and  so  freed  from  death, 
are  thus  exempted  from  it  only  by  virtue  of  the  blood 
of  Christ." 

Yet,  while  Mr.  Hilliard  held  his  own  views  firmly,  lie 
cherished  a  charitable  spirit  towards  those  who  judged 
differently,  and  enjoined  this  upon  others. 

In  person  Mr.  Hilliard  was  rather  spare,  of  a  medium 
height,  with  an  intellectual  and  attractive  countenance. 
His  last  illness  was  very  short,  and  in  it  he  was  sus- 
tained by  the  truths  he  had  preached,  enjoying  those 
consolations  which  he  had  given  to  others.  He  men- 
tioned his  people  with  affection,  and  with  great  satis- 
faction testified  "  that  he  had  not  shunned  to  declare  to 
them  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  having  kept  nothing 
back  through  fear  or  any  sinister  view."  Thus  passed 
away  the  seventh  minister  of  this  church.  He  was 
buried,  with  those  who  had  preceded  him,  in  our  sacred 
ground,  "  in  the  Christian  hope  of  rising  again  to  eter- 
nal life."  His  "  bereaved,  affectionate  flock  "  erected  a 
monument  to  his  memory,  and  inscribed  upon  it  the 
virtues  with  which  he  had  adorned  his  life. 

Here  we  pause,  after  the  survey  of  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years.  We  turn  from  these  pages  of  our  history, 
witnessing  to  the  truthfulness  of  the  word  of  promise 
and  of  hope  in  which  our  fathers  trusted,  and  strength- 
ening ourselves  with  the  assurance  which  God  grants  to 
us,  for  our  comfort  and  courage,  "  My  covenant  will  I 
not  break,  nor  alter  the  thing  that  is  gone  out  of  my 
lips." 


LECTUEE   VII. 

"  Remember  me,  0  Lord,  with  the  favor  that  thou  bearest  unto 
thy  people  :  0,  visit  me  with  thy  salvation  ;  that  i  may  see 
the  good  of  thy  chosen,  that  i  may  rejoice  in  the  gladness  of 
thy  nation,  that  i  may  glory  with  thine  inheritance."  —  psalm 

cvi.  4,  5. 

THE  patriot  Psalmist  sought  for  himself  the  blessing 
with  which  God  would  visit  his  people.  He  iden- 
tified himself  with  his  people,  both  for  confession  and 
desire.  It  was  enough  for  him  to  see  the  good  of  the 
chosen  of  God,  and  to  rejoice  in  their  gladness.  I 
have  placed  this  passage  at  the  head  of  this  discourse, 
because  it  forms  the  text  of  two  sermons  preached  by 
the  venerated  man  of  God  whose  ministry  we  are  now 
to  review.  They  were  first  delivered  in  1820,  upon 
the  twenty-eighth  anniversary  of  his  installation  over 
this  church,  and  were  repeated  in  1836,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  century  since  the  formation  of  the 
church.  The  sermons  set  forth  the  peculiar  privileges 
of  the  people  of  God,  and  the  duties  which  attend 
those  privileges.  He  accounted  it  a  great  honor  to  be 
numbered  with  those  whom  God  had  chosen,  and  a 
great  advantage  to  share  their  experience.  Yet  the 
people  of  God  to  whom  he  ministered  knew  both  the 
blessing  of  prosperity  and  the  blessing  of  adversity- 
In  the  day  of  their  prosperity  he  stood  in  his  place,  and 
prayed,  "  Remember  me,  0  Lord,  with  the  favor  that  thou 
bearest  unto  thy  people  " ;  and  when  the  day  of  adver- 


LECTURE   VI 1.  169 

sity  had  come,  taking  the  same  sermons  to  another 
sanctuary,  he  still  prayed,  "  that  I  may  see  the  good 
of  thy  chosen."  It  was  glory  enough  for  him  to  be  as 
they  were. 

In  the  town  of  Woodstock,  now  in  Connecticut,  hut 
at  that  time  within  the  bounds  of  this  State,  on  the 
24th  of  December,  1763,  was  born  the  man  who  be- 
came the  eighth  pastor  of  this  church,  and  who  long 
filled  the  office  with  distinction  and  success.  He 
preserved  the  renown  of  an  illustrious  line  of  minis- 
ters^ and  enhanced  its  praise  by  adding  his  own  name. 
The  father  of  Abiel  Holmes  was  a  practising  phy- 
sician. He  served  as  captain  during  the  war  in  Can- 
ada, and  as  a  surgeon  during  the  first  half  of  our 
Bevolutionary  War.  He  died  when  his  son  had  reached 
his  sixteenth  year.  It  is  inferred  that  the  early  years 
of  the  son  were  marked  by  studious  habits  and  a  serious 
regard  for  religion.  He  entered  Yale  College  in  1779, 
and  graduated  in  1783.  It  was  a  stormy  period  in 
his  country's  history,  and  New  Haven  shared  in  the 
stirring  scenes  of  the  time.  But  the  young  student 
improved  his  opportunities,  and  was  considered  one  of 
the  most  accomplished  scholars  in  his  class.  In  his 
Sophomore  year  he  united  with  the  College  church.  In 
the  year  following  his  graduation  he  was  in  South 
Carolina.  While  there,  the  church  and  society  at  Mid- 
way, Georgia,  learning  that  it  was  his  intention  to  enter 
the  ministry,  invited  him  to  preach  to  them  for  a  year, 
and  in  August,  1783,  he  began  his  labors  among  them. 
This  church  and  society  had  removed  from  Dorchester, 
in  this  State,  about  the  year  1700,  and  first  settled  in 
South  Carolina,  at  a  place  which  they  named  Dor- 
chester.      Some   fifty  years   later  they    removed    to 


170  FIRST  CUURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

Georgia,  where,  after  an  exciting  experience,  in  which 
their  meeting-house  and  almost  all  their  dwellings  and 
crops  were  burned  by  the  British  troops,  the  society- 
was  broken  up  and  dispersed.  On  the  return  of  peace 
the  people  came  back  to  their  old  home,  and  resumed 
their  former  ways.  It  was  at  this  new  beginning  of  their 
work  that  Mr.  Holmes,  then  in  the  twenty-first  year  of 
his  age,  entered  upon  his  labors  with  them.  When  he 
was  about  to  return  to  the  North,  in  the  following  year, 
he  was  earnestly  solicited  to  obtain  ordination,  and  then 
to  return  and  resume  his  ministry.  He  consented  to 
this,  and  was  ordained  in  the  College  Chapel  at  New 
Haven  on  the  15th  of  September,  1785,  being  the  day 
after  Commencement.  The  services  at  his  ordination 
were  printed.  The  Eev.  President  Stiles  was  moder- 
ator of  the  council.  The  sermon  was  the  regular 
Concio  ad  Clerum,  and  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Levi 
Hart,  of  Preston,  Conn.,  from  St.  Paul's  words,  "  For  do 
I  now  persuade  men,  or  God  ?  Or  do  I  seek  to  please 
men  ?  For  if  I  yet  pleased  men,  I  should  not  be  the 
servant  of  Christ."  The  sermon  was  entitled,  "  A 
Christian  Minister  described,  and  distinguished  from  a 
Pleaser  of  Men,"  and,  as  we  read  it  to-day,  has  a  pro- 
phetic tone.  The  act  of  consecration  and  the  ordaining 
prayer  were  by  President  Stiles. 

The  work  of  the  young  minister  was  regarded  as  of 
great  importance,  inasmuch  as  he  was  not  merely  the 
pastor  of  a  single  flock,  but  was  to  labor  in  a  region 
where  it  was  hoped  new  churches  would  spring  up  around 
him,  and  the  gospel  make  its  way,  through  his  influence, 
beyond  the  reach  of  his  voice.  He  went  to  his  people, 
but  was  obliged,  by  impaired  health,  to  return  the  next 
year  to  the  North,  where  he  exchanged  places  for  a 


LECTURE    UI.  171 

year  with  Mr.  Jedediah  Morse,  then  a  tutor  in  Yale 
College,  after  which  he  resumed  his  pastoral  work. 
During  his  absence  from  his  people  he  kept  them  on 
his  heart,  as  a  printed  "  Pastoral  Letter,"  still  pre- 
served, bears  witness.  He  continued  with  his  church 
for  about  four  years  longer,  when  it  was  found  that  his 
health  was  unfavorably  affected  by  a  southern  climate, 
and  he  resigned  his  charge  and  came  to  New  England. 
This  church  had  been  without  a  pastor  since  Mr. 
Hilliard's  death  in  May,  1790.  Mr.  Holmes  was  em- 
ployed to  preach,  with  a  view  to  his  settlement.  In 
October,  1791,  he  was  called  to  the  pastorate  by  the 
church,  and  the  parish  concurred  in  the  choice.  In 
his  reply  to  the  invitation,  Mr.  Holmes  writes  :  "  In 
respect  to  the  office  of  which  you  have  asked  my  ac- 
ceptance, I  can  truly  say  that  I  consider  it  above  my 
years  and  my  improvements.  But  the  singular  candor 
with  which  you  received  me  and  my  ministrations 
while  I  was  with  you,  and  the  remarkable  unanimity 
with  which  the  transactions  relative  to  my  proposed 
settlement  among  you  were  conducted,  silence  my 
objection  on  this  head."  On  the  25th  of  January,  1792, 
an  Ecclesiastical  Council  met  at  the  parsonage.  Pres- 
ident Willard  was  chosen  moderator.  After  the  usual 
examination,  the  council  adjourned  for  dinner  at  Mr. 
Owen  Warland's.  After  dinner,  the  brethren  of  the 
church  received  the  pastor-elect  as  a  member.  Then 
the  council,  with  the  pastor-elect,  preceded  by  the  church 
and  as  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish  as  were 
present,  proceeded  to  the  meeting-house,  where  the 
installation  services  were  performed.  Rev.  Mr.  Jack- 
son of  Brookline  offered  prayer.  Eev.  Dr.  James  Dana 
of  New  Haven  preached  from  our  Lord's  words,  which 


172  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

contain  the  authority  and  limitation  of  his  ministers, 
"  My  doctrine  is  not  mine,  but  his  that  sent  me."  Eev. 
Mr.  Clarke  of  Lexington  offered  the  installing  prayer, 
Eev.  Mr.  dishing  of  Waltham  gave  the  charge,  Eev. 
Mr.  Porter  of  Little  Cambridge  extended  the  right  hand 
of  fellowship,  Eev.  Dr.  Howard  of  Boston  offered  the 
concluding  prayer,  and  the  pastor  pronounced  the 
benediction.  The  record  closes  in  this  way :  "  Through- 
out the  whole  process  the  greatest  order,  decency,  and 
harmony  were  observable.  Soli  Deo  Gloria."  Mr. 
Holmes's  first  sermon  after  his  installation  was  from  the 
First  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  iv.  11.  "  If  any  man  speak, 
let  him  speak  as  the  oracle  of  God  ;  if  any  man  min- 
ister, let  him  do  it  as  of  the  ability  which  God  giveth  : 
that  God  in  all  things  may  be  glorified  through  Jesus 
Christ,  to  whom  be  praise  and  dominion  for  ever  and 
ever.  Amen."  That  was  the  key-note  of  his  long 
ministry.  He  was  duly  impressed  with  the  greatness 
of  his  work,  and  with  the  honor  of  the  position  which 
he  was  called  to  hold.  In  closing  this  sermon  he  said, 
"  In  a  word,  aided  by  Divine  grace,  he  will  endeavor  to 
speak  to  you  the  words  of  eternal  life  with  that  serious- 
ness and  zeal  which  their  singular  importance  requires. 
If,  impressed  with  the  weight  of  what  he  utters,  he 
should  at  any  time  seem  to  forget  the  respect  due  to 
his  auditory,  still,  if  he  keeps  to  the  oracles  of  God, 
he  hopes  you  will  pardon  him,  duly  considering  that 
he  is  not  mad,  but  speaks  forth  the  words  of  truth  and 

soberness But  I  am   again  constrained  to  cry 

out,  "Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  The  place  in 
which  I  stand  reminds  me  of  my  venerable  predecessors 
in  the  ministry.  Your  fathers,  where  are  they  ?  And 
the  prophets,  do  they  live  forever  ?  .  .  .  .  Other  men 


LECTURE   VII.  '  17;> 

labored,  and  I  am  entered  into  their  labors.  Such  an 
one  as  Paul  the  aged  no  longer  addresses  you  from  this 
pulpit,  but  a  youth  who  would  have  esteemed  it  a 
singular  honor,  as  a  son  with  the  father,  to  have  served 
with  him  in  the  gospel.  May  the  examples  and  coun- 
sels of  your  worthy  pastors  who  have  gone  to  rest  be 
long  kept  in  faithful  remembrance  among  you;  and 
may  the  recollection  of  their  excellent  characters  ex- 
cite your  present  minister  to  fidelity  in  the  very  ardu- 
ous and  important  work  to  which  he  is  renewedly 
devoted." 

The  records  of  the  church  during  Mr.  Holmes's  min- 
istry are  in  his  own  handwriting,  which  is  only  less 
plain  than  printing,  and  they  exhibit  the  method  and 
accuracy  which  marked  all  his  life.  From  these  and 
collateral  sources  we  are  able  to  write  the  story  of  his 
life.  I  shall  follow  in  the  main  the  chronological 
order,  but  there  are  some  events  which  should  be 
grouped. 

Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  the  surroundings.  Cam- 
bridge in  1792  did  not  differ  much  from  the  town  of 
1800,  when  Mr.  Holmes  compiled  its  history.  The 
bridge  which  we  usually  cross  on  our  way  to  Boston 
was  begun  in  the  year  of  his  settlement,  and  finished 
in  the  next  year.  He  describes  it  as  "  a  magnificent 
structure."  "  It  is  very  handsomely  constructed ;  and, 
when  lighted  by  its  two  rows  of  lamps,  extending  a- 
mile  and  a  quarter,  presents  a  vista  which  has  a  fine 
effect."  This  bridge  had  a  perceptible  influence  on  the 
business  of  the  town.  Houses  and  stores  were  built 
near  the  bridge,  where  a  rapid  progress  of  trade  and 
commerce  was  expected.  In  1790  the  number  of  in- 
habitants in  the  town  was  2,115.     In  ten  years  from 


174  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

that  time  there  had  been  an  increase  of  330.  The 
number  of  dwelling-houses  in  the  town  in  1798  was 
301,  of  which  one  half  were  in  the  first  parish.  At  the 
beginning  of  this  century  there  were  five  houses  of 
worship,  —  one  used  by  the  Congregational  church  in 
each  of  the  three  parishes,  in  the  first  parish  also  one 
for  the  Episcopalians,  and,  in  the  second,  one  for  the 
Baptists.  The  University  had  five  buildings.  These 
were  the  second  Harvard  Hall,  Massachusetts,  Hollis, 
Holden  Chapel,  and  College  House,  a  wooden  build- 
ing of  three  stories,  containing  twelve  rooms  with 
studies,  and  standing  outside  the  yard.  The  historian 
says,  "  There  are  now  one  hundred  and  ninety-one 
students  in  this  ancient  and  very  respectable  seminary ; 
and,  for  several  preceding  years,  there  have  been  up- 
wards of  two  hundred An  extensive  and  beautiful 

common  spreads  to  the  northwest  of  the  Colleges,  and 
adds  much  to  the  pleasantness  of  this  central  part  of 
the  town."  The  county  court-house,  used  also  for  a 
town-house,  stood  in  Harvard  Square.  On  the  corner 
of  Market  Square  stood  the  wooden  jail.  The  grammar 
school-house  was  a  little  westward  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  There  were,  besides  this,  six  school-houses  in 
town,  two  in  each  parish.  The  grounds  of  Thomas 
Brattle,  Esq.,  once  the  property  of  the  Bev.  William 
Brattle,  were  greatly  admired.  "  In  no  part  of  New 
England,  probably,  is  horticulture  carried  to  higher 
perfection  than  within  his  enclosure."  On  the  road  to 
Watertown  were  ."  several  elegant  seats "  which  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  travellers.  And  the  Washing- 
ton elm,  which  guards  our  new  church,  stretched  out 
its  broad  branches,  hanging  with  historic  memories. 
The  meeting-house  of  this  church  and  the  first  parish 


LECTURE   VII.  175 

■was  the  fourth  house  which  they  had  occupied,  and 
stood  near  the  present  site  of  Dane  Hall.  The  par- 
sonage was  on  a  glebe  of  four  acres  now  included  in  the 
College  yard. 

From  this  external  survey  we  pass  to  the  history  of 
the  church.  The  first  matter  in  the  regular  records  of 
this  period  is  the  report,  made  in  1792,  of  a  "  committee 
appointed  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  church  stock, 
and  of  the  fund  appropriated  to  the  poor  of  the  church." 
It  appears  that  the  deacons  had  in  their  charge  £356 
19  s.  8|  d.,  which  was  nearly  all  invested,  and  drawing 
interest.  One  third  part  of  the  interest  was  to  he  paid 
to  the  parish  treasurer,  by  vote  of  the  church.  In  the 
account  of  the  fund  for  the  poor  of  the  church,  the 
deacons  were  charged  with  £82  7  s.  6^cl,  which  had 
been  properly  distributed  among  the  poor,  or  remained 
on  investment,  except  a  very  small  balance.  The 
deacons  declared  their  agreement  to  the  report  of  the 
committee.  The  church  passed  a  vote  thanking 
"  Deacon  Hill  for  his  generous  services  in  providing 
for  the  Communion  and  negotiating  the  funds  of  the 
church."  This  examination  was  repeated,  year  by  year, 
and  the  vote  of  acknowledgment  was  regularly  passed 
for  several  years,  enlarged,  however,  by  thanks  "  to  the 
deacons  in  general  for  their  services  in  behalf  of  the 
church."  The  last  of  these  statements  of  the  monetary 
affairs  of  the  church  was  made  in  1830,  when  the 
funds  of  the  church  had  increased  to  $3,236.99,  and 
the  fund  for  the  poor  to  $  667.18. 

The  first  statement  made  by  the  deacons  is  signed 
by  Aaron  Hill,  Gideon  Frost,  and  James  Munro.  In 
the  same  year  Deacon  Hill  died,  after  a  service  of 
eighteen  years  in  that  office,  and  Captain  John  Walton 


176  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy.  In  a  modest  letter, 
expressing  his  surprise  at  the  election,  and  his  fear 
lest  he  could  not  fill  the  office  with  that  propriety 
which  it  required,  he  confessed  himself  not  entirely  at 
his  own  disposal,  and,  heeding  the  call  of  duty,  acceded 
to  the  wishes  of  the  church.  Deacon  Walton  died 
thirty-one  years  afterwards,  in  1823.  It  will  be  best 
to  bring  together  here  the  changes  in  this  office  during 
this  pastorate.  In  1803  Deacon  Frost  died,  after  a 
service  of  twenty  years,  and,  in  1804,  Mr.  William  Hil- 
liard  was  chosen  in  his  place.  "  The  deacon-elect 
offered  a  modest  excuse  for  declining  the  choice,  on 
account  of  his  early  age ;  but,  after  due  consideration, 
he  accepted  it,  and  signified  his  acceptance  by  assisting 
at  the  next  Communion  service."  The  pastor  adds,  in  a 
note,  "  He  is  in  his  twenty-sixth  year ;  is  a  son  of  my 
worthy  predecessor  in  the  ministry;  and,  though  re- 
cently admitted  into  our  church,  has  been  several  years 
a  member  of  a  church  in  Boston,  and  has  had  frequent 
communion  with  us."  He  remained  in  office  until  his 
death  in  1836,  a  period  of  thirty-two  years.  Deacon 
Munro  died  in  1804,  having  been  twenty-one  years  in 
office.  In  his  place  Mr.  Josiah  Moore  was  chosen. 
He  filled  the  office  for  nine  years,  and  died  in  1814. 
His  house  stood  upon  the  land  now  occupied  by  our 
new  church.  His  place  was  not  filled  until  1818,  when 
a  meeting  was  held  for  that  purpose.  "  After  prayer 
by  the  pastor  for  the  Divine  direction  and  blessing,  and 
the  recital  of  the  apostolical  instruction  and  precedents 
on  the  subject,  the  brethren  proceeded  to  bring  in  their 
written  votes,  and  it  appeared  that  the  whole  number 
of  votes  was  ten,  nine  of  which  were  for  Brother  James 
Munro.     He  was,  accordingly,  declared  to  be  chosen  a 


LECTURE   VII.  177 

deacon  of  this  church."     The  records  proceed  as  fol- 
lows :    "  Sept.   6.    After  the  morning  sermon  (Lord's 
Day)  the  pastor,  having  admitted  four  members  in  full 
communion  into  the  church,  mentioned  the  election  of 
Brother  James  Munro  to  the  office  of  Deacon,  and  his 
acceptance.      The  deacon-elect,  ■  signifying  his  accept- 
ance by  taking  his  seat,  this  day,  with  the  deacons,  near 
the  Communion-table,  rose,  on  being  addressed  by  the 
pastor,  who  briefly  stated  to  him  the  duties  of  the  office 
to  which  he  was  elected,  exhorted  him  to  fidelity,  and 
announced  him  a  deacon  of  this  church.     In  the  con- 
cluding prayer,  immediately  following,  he  was    com- 
mended to  the  grace  and  blessing  of  God."      Deacon 
Munro  remained  in  office  until  his  death  in  1848.     His 
term  of  office,  therefore,  like  Deacon  Hilliard's,  extended 
through  the  difficult  times  which  befell  the  church. 
To  the  character  of  these  two  men  we  have  the  testi- 
mony of  Dr.  Albro,  who  was  the  pastor  at  the  time  of 
their  death,  and  who  said  of  them,  "  In  many  respects 
dissimilar,  they  were  alike  in  their' love  of  the  truth,  in 
their  zeal  for  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  in  their  efforts 
and  sacrifices  for  the  welfare  of  the  church.    They  were, 
as   the  Apostle  says  that  deacons  should  be,  honest, 
faithful,   and    good    men,    "not    double-tongued,   not 
greedy  of  filthy  lucre,  holding  the  mystery  of  the  faith 
in  a  pure  conscience."     They  "  used  the  office  of  dea- 
con well,  and  purchased  for  themselves  a  good  degree, 
and  great  boldness  in  the  faith  which  is  in  Jesus  Christ." 
In  this   connection   I   bring  forward  a  few  changes 
relating  to  the  Communion.     It  had  been  the  usage  of 
this  church   to  have  the   Lord's  Supper  administered 
once  in  eight  weeks.     This  naturally  produced  incon- 
venience, because  the  particular  days  were  not  specified. 

12 


178  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

Accordingly,  in  1797,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  pastor, 
the  church  decided  to  have  the  Communion  on  the  first 
Lord's  Day  of  every  other  month,  beginning  with  Janu- 
ary. That  arrangement  remains  to  this  day.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1818,  there  is  this  entry:  "It  had  been  the 
usage  of  the  church,  at  the  Communion  service,  for  the 
members  to  remain  in  their  own  pews.  To  lessen 
the  time  and  to  facilitate  the  duties  of  this  service,  on 
the  suggestion  of  the  deacons,  the  pastor  recommended 
it  to  the  communicants  to  seat  themselves  in  the  pews 
on  the  broad  aisle.  These  pews  were,  accordingly,  oc- 
cupied at  the  Communion  this  day."  In  1825  the  time 
of  the  lecture  preparatory  to  the  Communion  was 
changed  to  the  evening ;  and  it  was  voted  "  that  the 
examination  of  the  annual  accounts  of  the  church  take 
place  at  the  lecture  previous  to  the  first  Sunday  in 
March."  It  may  seem  a  blending  of  sacred  and  secular 
things,  but  to  the  church  all  its  doings  should  be  sacred. 
At  the  same  meeting  it  was  voted  that  the  Sabbath 
service  from  September  to  March  should  begin  at  half- 
past  two  o'clock,  and  during  the  rest  of  the  year  at  half- 
past  three.  In  1826  "  two  of  the  tankards  and  two 
cups  were  recast,  and  two  cups  altered  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  now  made  seven  cups  of  a  uniform  shape  and 
size.  A  new  silver  spoon  and  six  Britannia- ware  dishes, 
more  adapted  to  the  use  for  which  they  are  designed, 
were  also  procured." 

There  are  three  cases  of  church  discipline  recorded  in 
this  pastorate.  All  were  for  offences  demanding  atten- 
tion, and  the  proceedings  were  conducted  in  a  kind  and 
faithful  temper.  The  first  case  was  settled  by  the  satis- 
factory confession  of  the  offender,  after  the  admonition  of 
the  pastor  had  brought  him  to  penitence.     The  second 


LECTURE   VII.  179 

resulted  in  excommunication,  after  persistent  efforts  to 
bring  the  offender  to  repentance  and  amendment.  But 
four  years  afterwards,  upon  her  contrition,  and  desire  for 
forgiveness  and  readmission,  she  was  restored  to  the 
fellowship  and  privileges  of  the  church,  and  the  pastor 
"  exhorted  the  members  to  conduct  toward  her  accord- 
ingly." The  third  instance  was  that  of  a  man  who  had 
"  renounced  his  Christian  profession,  • .  .  .  .  and  proved 
himself  to  be,  not  merely  an  apostate  from  the  Christian 
church,  but  an  enemy  to  the  Christian  religion."  The 
faithful  efforts  of  the  church  to  reclaim  him  were  in- 
effectual, and  he  was  excommunicated. 

But  let  us  turn  to  pleasant  things.  In  1805  a  com- 
mittee, consisting  of  the  pastor  and  two  others,  wras 
appointed  to  consider  the  expediency  of  "procuring 
religious  books  for  the  use  of  the  members  of  the 
church."  The  report  recommended  that  a  contribution 
should  be  made  by  the  church  for  that  purpose,  and 
this  was  accepted.  The  committee  was  directed  to 
prepare  a  list  of  suitable  books.  The  report  names 
some  twenty  volumes,  beginning  with  "  The  Holy 
Bible,"  and  including  "  Leslie's  Short  and  Easy  Method 
with  Deists,"  "  Baxter's  Saint's  Best,"  "  Doddridge's 
Bise  and  Progress  of  Beligion,"  "  Wilberforce  on  Chris- 
tianity," and  kindred  works.  The  estimated  cost  of 
the  books  was  $  13.50.  The  deacons  were  desired  to 
solicit  donations  of  money,  or  of  any  of  the  books  which 
had  been  named,  to  begin  the  library. '  There  was  a 
generous  response.  The  library  was  accordingly  estab- 
lished, and  placed  under  the  care  of  the  church,  which 
was  annually  to  choose  the  librarian  and  a  standing 
committee.  The  title  of  Library  of  the  First  Church 
was  agreed  upon.    The  pastor  was  chosen  librarian.     A 


180  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

catalogue  was  printed,  embracing  one  hundred  and  nine 
books.  An  excellent  work  was  thus  begun,  which  it 
seems  very  desirable  that  the  church  should  renew  at 
the  present  time.  A  small  expenditure  in  each  year 
would  establish  a  library  which  would  prove  of  great 
usefulness. 

This  is  the  place  to  bring  together  a  few  other  mat- 
ters of  a  similar  character.  In  the  summer  of  1815  a 
Sabbath  school  was  opened  at  the  meeting-house,  with 
the  design  of  promoting  "  the  moral  and  religious  im- 
provement of  children  and  youth."  The  school  was 
taught  during  three  summers  by  Miss  Mary  Munro  and 
Miss  Hannah  Tenney.  Then  five  other  young  ladies 
came  to  their  assistance,  and  Mr.  James  D.  Farnsworth, 
master  of  the  grammar  school,  tendered  his  services  for 
the  instruction  of  the  boys.  "  More  than  eighty  chil- 
dren of  both  sexes  received  instruction  at  the  Sabbath 
school.  They  were  taught  to  read  and  to  commit  to 
memory  select  portions  of  the  Bible,  catechisms,  hymns 
and  prayers,  and  to  answer  Cummings's  questions  on  the 
New  Testament.  Books  and  tracts  were  early  provided 
for  their  use."  In  1819  the  pastor  stated  the  object  of 
the  school  to  the  congregation,  "  and  a  collection  was 
afterward  taken  for  purchasing  small  books  to  be  dis- 
tributed among  the  children,  as  an  encouragement  for 
punctual  attendance,  correct  lessons,  and  good  be- 
havior." "  In  1827  books  and  tracts  were  collected 
by  subscription  for  a  juvenile  library."  A  board  of 
trustees  was  chosen,  with  the  pastor  at  the  head.  He 
was  also  chosen  librarian.  In  July,  1831,  seven  trus- 
tees were  elected,  and  Miss  Mary  Ann  Sawyer  became 
librarian.  The  trustees  were  authorized  to  make  selec- 
tions from  the  library  to  form  a  Sabbath  School  Library 


LECTURE   VII.  181 

for  the  Shepard  Congregational  Society.  We  are  now 
carried  beyond  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Holmes.  But  it 
may  be  added  that  in  1832  it  was  voted  that  "Mr. 
Stephen  Farwell,  then  superintendent  in  the  Sabbath 
school,  be  appointed  and  requested  to  deliver  the  books 
selected  for  the  use  of  the  Sabbath  school."  After- 
wards, in  1835,  a  Sabbath  School  Society  was  formed 
by  members  of  the  Shepard  Congregational  Society, 
"  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  more  effectually  Sabbath- 
school  instruction,"  and  both  of  the  libraries  for  the 
young  were  transferred  to  its  care,  and  were  brought 
together  under  the  name  of  Juvenile  and  Shepard 
Sabbath  School  Library.  We  have  just  celebrated  the 
fifty-seventh  anniversary  of  our  Sabbath  school.  While 
enjoying  the  goodly  measure  of  prosperity  which  is 
granted  us,  we  should  gratefully  remember  the  work 
done  by  those  into  whose  labors  we  have  entered. 

We  come  now  to  transactions  affecting  the  connection 
between  the  church  and  the  University.  From  the 
beginning  they  had  held  their  Sabbath  services  to- 
gether, and  the  relation  had  been  in  all  respects  an 
intimate  one.  In  1814  the  Corporation  and  Overseers 
decided  that  it  was  best  for  the  members  of  the  Univer- 
sity to  hold  religious  services  by  themselves.  The 
expected  benefits  of  this  were  the  better  opportunity  to 
give  special  appropriateness  to  the  exercises  and  in- 
structions of  the  sanctuary,  and  to  bring  into  the  Sab- 
bath certain  discourses  which  had  been  delivered  on  a 
week  day.  The  approved  practice  of  other  universities 
encouraged  the  separate  service.  The  completion  of 
University  Hall,  which  would  contain  a  commodious 
chapel,  favored  the  proposed  change.  It  was  designed 
to   form   a   church,  and  to  have  the  ordinances  duly 


182  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

administered.  Members  of  the  College  government 
with  their  families,  and  students,  graduates  and  under- 
graduates, were  to  be  the  only  stated  communicants. 
A  committee,  including  the  reverend  President,  was 
appointed  to  notify  the  minister  and  congregation  of 
the  First  Parish  of  the  design,  and  "  to  express  the  sen- 
timents of  regard  and  fraternity  felt  by  the  members 
of  the  several  College  Boards,  and  the  desire  of  Chris- 
tian and  friendly  communion  between  the  two  so- 
cieties." President  Kirkland,  as  Chairman  of  the 
Committee,  addressed  a  letter  "  to  the  pastor,  the 
church  and  congregation  in  the  First  Parish  in  Cam- 
bridge," informing  them  of  the  proposed  action,  and 
describing  very  feelingly  the  pleasant  associations  of 
the  past,  and  the  sacrifice  of  personal  feelings  which 
was  involved.  "  The  ties  of  neighborhood  and  friend- 
ship, the  sympathy  and  regard  naturally  produced  by  a 
communion  in  religious  acts,  the  experience  of  edifica- 
tion and  comfort  in  attendance  upon  your  services, 
combine  to  make  us  wish  to  continue  going  to  the 
house  of  God  in  company."  The  committee  expressed 
the  belief  that  the  separation,  though  in  some  respects 
undesirable  and  painful,  would,  on  being  viewed  in  all 
its  circumstances  and  bearings,  receive  approbation  and 
good  wishes.  A  conference  to  determine  the  future 
connection  of  the  University  and  the  parish  was  de- 
sired. It  was  also  asked  that  such  members  of  the 
University  as  should  request  dismission,  in  order  to  join 
the  new  church,  should  have  their  request  granted  ;  and 
that  the  pastor  and  delegates  should  be  present  at 
the  formation  of  the  church  within  the  walls  of  the 
University.  The  church  voted  "that  the  reasons  as- 
signed for  the  proposed  measure,  so  far  as  it  respects 


LECTURE    TV/.  183 

this  church,  are  entirely  satisfactory  ;  and  that  the 
church  is  ready  to  concur  in  the  change."  Five  del- 
egates were  appointed  to  attend,  with  the  pastor,  at  the 
formation  of  the  new  church,  and  the  pastor  was 
"  requested  to  reciprocate  the  assurance  of  regard  and 
fraternity  so  kindly  expressed  by  the  University  to- 
wards us."  The  pastor  replied  to  the  communication 
of  the  President  in  a  letter  full  of  feeling,  recalling  the 
past,  and  the  delightful  intimacy  which  had  been 
enjoyed,  and  which  rendered  the  thought  of  a  separa- 
tion equally  solemn  and  affecting.  This  is  the  close  of 
the  letter :  "  Allowing  ourselves,  however,  to  be  in- 
fluenced on  this  occasion  by  no  other  consideration 
than  a  regard  to  the  best  interests  of  the  University, 
we  cannot  but  acquiesce  in  a  measure  designed  for  its 
benefit.  Our  prayer  to  God  is,  that  it  may,  in  all  re- 
spects, be  of  kindly  and  salutary  influence,  and  par- 
ticularly that  it  may  conduce  to  the  religious  interests 
of  the  University,  —  a  seminary  consecrated  '  To 
Christ  and  the  Church.'  We  are  grateful  for  your 
benevolent  petitions  for  us  ;  and  ask  you  to  continue 
the  prayers  which  you  so  affectionately  offer  for  us 
and  our  children.  May  brotherly  love  continue.  Short 
as  is  the  distance,  and  small  as  will  be  the  partition, 
between  the  places  of  our  religious  services,  we  indulge 
the  pleasing  persuasion  that  we  shall  be  united  in 
affection,  and  that  the  interchange  of  fraternal  and 
Christian  offices,  as  occasion  shall  invite  or  require, 
will  be  perpetuated.  We  gratefully  acknowledge  the 
regard  uniformly  shown  us  by  the  University,  and  the 
numerous  acts  and  offices  of  kindness  and  fraternity 
we  have  experienced  as  individuals,  and  especially  as  a 
church  and  society.     The  remembrance  of  them  will  be 


184  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

always  precious  to  us.  Brethren,  farewell.  '  We  bless 
you  out  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.' "  "  The  covenant 
subscribed  by  the  members  of  the  College  church  is 
dated,  'Harvard  College,  Nov.  6,  1814.'"  It  was  signed 
by  the  President  and  fifteen  others.  Our  church  record 
closes  by  stating  that,  "  On  the  morning  of  Lord's 
Day,  6th  Nov.  1814,  the  church  was  organized  at 
University  Hall,  in  the  presence  and  by  the  assistance 
of  the  pastor  and  delegates  of  the  First  Church  in 
Cambridge." 

In  the  following  year  the  pastor  informed  the  church 
of  his  recent  discovery,  among  the  collections  of  the  late 
Eev.  Thomas  Prince,  of  a  manuscript  register  in  the 
handwriting  of  Eev.  Jonathan  Mitchel,  containing  a  list 
of  the  members  of  the  church  under  the  following  title  : 
"  The  Church  of  Christ  at  Cambridge  in  New  England. 
The  names  of  all  the  members  thereof  that  are  in  full 
communion  ;  together  with  their  children  who  were 
either  baptized  in  this  church,  or  (coming  from  other 
churches)  who  were  in  their  minority  at  their  parent's 
joyning,  taken  and  registered,  in  the  11  month  1G58." 
The  church  directed  that  this  list,  which  has  of  late 
proved  of  great  service  in  the  preparation  of  our  church 
Manual,  should  be  bound  up  with  the  records,  and  that 
blank  leaves  should  be  left  for  the  record  of  other 
papers.  Another  blank  book  was  to  be  procured  "  for 
the  preservation  of  the  reports  on  the  state  of  the 
church  stock,  etc.,  and  other  important  papers  suitable 
to  be  preserved  with  them ;  such  as  Acts  of  the  Legis- 
lature relative  to  Parish  and  Ministry  lands,  the  setting 
off  of  parishes  within  the  town  of  Cambridge,  etc.,  etc." 

There  are  two  or  three  other  events  of  interest  which 
should  have  a  brief  notice.     In  1807  Dr.  Holmes  left 


LECTURE   VII.  185 

the  ancient  house  in  which  the  ministers  had  so  long 
resided,  and  removed  to  the  house  which  is  now  stand- 
ing in  Holmes  Place,  and  which  has  but  recently 
passed  from  his  family  into  the  possession  of  the  Col- 
lege. In  1807  a  meeting-house  was  erected  in  that 
part  of  the  town  which  was  already  the  scene  of  large 
visions  of  commercial  prosperity,  and  which,  in  antici- 
pation of  its  coming  importance,  had  been  made  a  port 
of  entry,  and  was  designated  as  Cambridgeport.  That 
part  of  the  town  had  received  the  parochial  care  of  the 
minister  of  the  First  Church,  "  who  was  wont  in  his 
visits  to  distribute  catechisms  and  hymn-books,  and  to 
question  the  children  upon  religious  doctrines  and 
duties."  The  new  meeting-house  was  a  spacious  struc- 
ture of  brick,  and  stood  in  a  barren  common  near  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  square  now  occupied  by  the 
Allston  school-house.  The  sermon  at  its  dedication 
was  preached  by  Dr.  Holmes.  The  church  seems  to 
have  been  organized  in  1809.  The  first  pastor  was 
Eev.  Thomas  Brattle  Gannett,  who  united  with  our 
church  in  1810,  and  was  dismissed  and  recommended 
to  the  new  church  in  1814.  The  sermon  at  his  ordina- 
tion, in  1814,  was  also  preached  by  Dr.  Holmes,  and 
was  from  the  text,  "  I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men, 
that  I  might  by  all  means  save  some."  The  historian 
of  that  church  says  of  the  sermon  and  the  preacher, 

"  It  reads  as  placid  as  he  looked It  is  another 

instance  of  that  now  lost  art  of  felicitously  weaving  in 
Scripture  language  with  the  texture  of  every  sentence, 
and  the  expression  of  every  thought,  which  gave  such 
peculiar  unction  to  the  most  common  utterances  of  the 
older  divines."  That  meeting-house  was  injured  in  a 
severe  gale  in  1833,  and  afterwards  taken  down.     A 


186  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

large  part  of  the  material  was  used  in  the  erection  of 
another  house  on  Austin  Street,  where  the  society  still 
worships  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Eev.  George 
W.  Briggs,  D.D. 

Among  other  relics  of  Dr.  Holmes's  ministry  is  a 
pamphlet  entitled,  "  A  Sermon  delivered  at  the  Episco- 
pal Church  in  Cambridge,  by  the  Request  of  the  Wardens 
and  Vestry,  December  25,  1809,  in  Celebration  of  the 
Nativity  of  our  Blessed  Saviour.  By  Abiel  Holmes, 
D.D.,  Minister  of  the  First  Church  in  Cambridge."  The 
sermon  was  preached  at  a  time  when  the  Episcopal 
Church  was  for  the  most  part  supplied  with  lay-readers. 
The  thanks  of  the  society  were  presented  to  the 
preacher  for  "the  learned  and  appropriate  discourse," 
and  he  was  requested  to  furnish  a  copy  for  the  press. 

I  find  in  the  records  no  signs  of  the  war  of  1812, 
unless  it  be  in  the  small  number  of  admissions  to  the 
church.  In  1812  but  two  persons  were  received,  one 
of  whom  was  Edward  Everett,  and  in  1813  but  one 
person.     In  1814  there  were  five  admitted. 

In  connection  with  the  service  of  song  in  the  house 
of  the  Lord,  it  is  of  interest  to  find  one  of  Dr.  Holmes's 
sermons  marked,  "  This  day  Watts's  psalms  and  hymns 
introduced  instead  of  Tate  and  Brady."  It  was  preached 
on  the  afternoon  of  June  29,  1817.  The  text  was, 
"Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all 
wisdom ;  teaching  and  admonishing  one  another  in 
psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  singing  with 
grace  in  your  hearts  to  the  Lord."  The  sermon  teaches 
the  spirit  in  which  this  service  should  be  performed, 
and  justifies  the  use  of  hymns  in  addition  to  the 
psalms.  The  grace  of  Christ  and  the  joys  of  a  Christian 
life  might  properly  find  expression  in  new  songs,  "  in 


LECTURE    VII.  187 

the  plain  language  of  the  gospel,"  rather  "  than  in  the 
obscure  diction  of  prophecy."  The  people  were  urged 
"  with  one  heart,  and,  as  far  as  practicable  with 
harmony  and  propriety,  with  one  voice,  to  unite  in  the 
songs  of  Zion."  The  preacher  adds,  "  To  the  skilful 
performance  of  the  choir  we  are  much  indebted  for  the 
order  and  harmony,  the  solemnity  and  effect,  with  which 
this  part  of  Divine  service  is  performed.  The  style  of 
sacred  music  is,  of  late  years,  essentially  improved  ;  and 
the  exclusion  of  light  and  unhallowed  airs,  so  foreign 
to  the  solemnity  of  the  subject  and  the  place,  is  itself 
highly  favorable  to  our  improvement  in  piety  and  de- 
votion, and,  at  the  same  time,  more  easily  admits  the 
union  of  a  great  proportion  of  the  assembly  in  this 
common  duty,  —  the  social  praise  of  Almighty  God. 
Let  us  not,  then,  leave  this  interesting,  improving,  and 
delightful  service  to  be  performed  wholly  by  others. 
Let  none  be  listless,  or  indifferent  to  it.  Let  none 
regard  it  as  a  mere  entertainment.  Above  all,  let  none 
either  perform,  or  hear  it  performed,  with  levity.  Let 
us  all  be  supplied  with  books.  Let  those  who  can,  with 
any  propriety,  bear  a  part  in  singing  the  high  praises 
of  God  ;  and  let  the  rest  keep  their  eyes  fixed  on  the 
psalm  or  hymn  that  is  sung,  and  join  with  the  under- 
standing and  affections  in  the  sublime  employment, 
and  thus  make  melody,  at  least  in  their  hearts,  to  the 
Lord.  And  here,  my  brethren,  I  would  suggest  to  you 
the  propriety  of  performing  this  part  of  the  service, 
even  when  we  do  no  more  than  perform  it  in  heart,  in 
a  standing  rather  than  in  a  sitting  posture."  In  1827 
an  organ  was  placed  in  the  church,  and  this  sermon 
was  repeated  on  the  30th  of  September,  with  the  inser- 
tion of  these  remarks  :  "  The  introduction  of  an  organ, 


188  FIRST  CHURCH  IN   CAMBRIDGE. 

instead  of  diminishing,  should  increase  the  number  of 
singers  in  the  congregation.  It  is  not,  you  will  remem- 
ber, intended  as  a  substitute  for  the  voice,  but  as  an  aid 
to  it.  It  may  be  accompanied  by  those  who  are  not 
thoroughly  skilled  in  music,  though  great  care  should 
be  taken  not  to  violate  either  the  time  or  the  harmony. 
In  the  use  of  this  instrument,  it  is  hoped  and  believed 
great  regard  will  be  shown  to  the  spiritual  nature  of 
the  worship  which  it  is  intended  to  aid.  It  is  not 
meant  for  our  entertainment,  but  for  our  improvement ; 
not  simply  to  delight  the  ear,  but  to  inspire  the  heart. 
It  will  not,  I  trust,  be.  suffered  to  overpower  the  vocal 
music,  of  which  it  'should  be  but  an  accompaniment. 
Let  us  have  the  distinct  articulation  of  the  human 
voice,  that  it  may  not  give  an  uncertain  sound,  or  be  so 
merged  in  the  sound  of  an  instrument  that  the  mean- 
ing cannot  be  understood.  Let  us  remember,  my 
brethren,  that  we  are  required  to  sing  with  the  spirit 
and  with  the  understanding." 

"  The  First  Evangelical  Congregational  Church  in 
Cambridgeport "  was  gathered  in  1827.  The  word 
"  Evangelical "  is  the  distinctive  term  in  this  name.  For 
before  that  church  was  formed,  the  word  had  come 
to  have  a  precise,  and,  to  some  extent,  denominational 
significance.  We  are  brought  now  upon  the  events 
which  separated  our  church  from  the  parish  with  which 
it  had  so  long  been  connected.  I  should  be  glad  if  I 
might  be  spared  the  recital  of  these  scenes.  But  they 
were  real,  and  history  must  accept,  not  select,  its  facts. 
In  regard  to  the  points  of  this  controversy  there  is  a 
substantial  agreement.  Each  party  published  a  pam- 
phlet, weaving  into  its  narrative  such  comments  as 
it   chose.     On   the    20th   of  July,   1827,   a   memorial 


LECTURE    VII.  189 

signed  by  sixty-three  members  of  the  parish  was  pre- 
sented to  the  pastor,  remonstrating  with  him  for  dis- 
continuing professional  exchanges  with  certain  minis- 
ters, and  recommending  a  return  to  his  former  custom. 
To  understand  the  meaning  of  this,  it  is  necessary  to  go 
back  a  little.  As  early  as  the  year  1787,  Unitarianism, 
which  had  already  been  adopted  by  many  persons, 
became  a  "  substantial  reality  "  in  Boston  by  the  action 
of  the  society  worshipping  in  King's  Chapel,  which 
set  aside  the  English  Liturgy  it  had  been  using,  and 
adopted  one  prepared  by  its  own  minister,  which  care- 
fully excluded  all  acknowledgment  of  the  Trinity.  For 
many  years  this  remained  the  only  confessedly. Unita- 
rian society  of  any  note  in  New  England.  By  what 
gradual  progression  the  new  belief  extended  itself,  and 
of  the  methods  of  its  advance,  it  is  not  my  purpose  to 
speak.  That  has  already  become  written  history.  But 
by  the  time  which  we  are  now  considering,  a  large  part 
of  the  ministers  of  the  churches  in  this  immediate 
neighborhood  had  embraced  the  liberal  principles  of 
belief.  It  was  about  this  time  that  this  new  belief 
became-  organized  and  "  The  Unitarian  Association  was 
formed."  Manifestly  here  was  a  great  change,  and 
naturally  it  changed  the  relation  of  such  ministers  to 
those  who  adhered  to  the  old  belief.  Freedom  of  pro- 
fessional intercourse  became  restricted,  more  and  more 
restricted  as  one  man  after  another  declared  himself  in 
favor  of  the  new  views.  There  were  men  of  all  degrees 
of  conviction  and  confession.  Some  were  pronounced 
Unitarians,  and  from  these  men  shaded  away  into  such 
as  could  hardly  be  distinguished  from  the  Orthodox. 
Religious  belief  and  usage  for  a  time  were  in  solution, 
but  coming  steadily  to  take  on  a  precise  form.     Now, 


190  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE.  ' 

the  minister  here  recognized  these  changes  among  his 
neighbors,  and  governed  himself  accordingly.  Hence 
some  who  had  heretofore  been  invited  to  an  exchange 
of  pulpits  with  him  no  longer  received  such  proposals. 
No  single  year  drew  the  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  ministers  and  churches  of  the  two  parties  in  the- 
ology. It  was  a  slower  process  by  which  men  found 
their  places.  Therefore  no  single  year  marked  the 
complete  cutting  off  of  ministerial  exchanges  among 
clergymen  of  the  different  parties.  This  came  about  by 
degrees,  and  was  variously  affected  by  the  circum- 
stances and  judgment  of  individuals.  But  as  in  the 
course  of  events  some  of  the  previous  exchanges  ceased 
here,  it  came  to  be  noticed  by  the  people.  This  would 
have  made  no  trouble  if  they  had  continued  to  hold 
the  views  which  for  two  hundred  years  had  been 
preached  in  the  parish,  and  for  a  third  of  a  century  by 
this  pastor.  But  a  large  majority  of  the  legal  voters  in 
the  affairs  of  the  parish  chose  the  more  liberal  side. 
They  complained  of  the  change  in  the  pastor's  practice, 
and  asserted  that  he  was  changing  the  policy  of  the 
church,  and  deviating  from  the  customs  of  his  immediate 
predecessors,  and  departing  from  the  views  which  had 
governed  his  own  procedure  and  shaped  his  own 
preaching.  They  complained,  also,  that  he  introduced 
preachers' whose  teaching  was  irrational,  and  offensive 
to  a  majority  of  his  parishioners,  while  he  gxcluded 
others  whom  they  desired  to  hear.  It  is  probable  that 
the  preaching  of  some  who  were  brought  in  for  extra 
services  did  more  to  provoke  the  parish  than  the 
preaching  of  the  pastor.  Out  of  this  state  of  things 
grew  their  memorial,  in  which  the  signers  gratefully 
testified  to  the  order,  peace,  and  harmony  with  which 


LECTURE   VII.  191 

the  church  and  society  had  walked  together,  and  ex- 
pressed their  fear  lest  there  should  arise  disaffection 
and  disunion  in  consequence  of  the  pastor's  action,  and 
requested  him  "  to  exchange  a  reasonable  proportion  of 
the  time  with  such  respectable  clergymen  of  liberal 
sentiments  in  this  vicinity  as  had  heretofore  been  ad- 
mitted into  his  pulpit,  and  with  others  of  similar 
character."  The  pastor  replied,  in  dignified  terms,  that 
he  thought  an  interview  with  him,  before  any  paper  had 
been  drawn  up,  would  have  been  more  favorable  to 
truth  and  peace.  He  said,  further,  to  show  that  this 
ceasing  of  professional  intercourse  was  not  all  with  the 
orthodox  ministers,  that  some  liberal  ministers  were  of 
the  opinion  that  such  exchanges  as  were  proposed  were 
not  desirable.  He  added :  "  The  subject  is  believed  to 
be  uniformly  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  pastors,  who 
are,  or  ought  to  be,  the  best  judges  of  what  is  profitable 
for  their  hearers,  and  who  are  bound  religiously  to  de- 
termine what  is  right  and  consistent  for 'themselves." 
This  was  the  beginning  of  a  protracted  controversy, 
which  I  have  neither  time  nor  heart  to  review.  The 
whole  discussion  is  in  print.  It  was  conducted  with  a 
large  amount  of  earnest  feeling  on  both  sides.  The 
effort  of  the  parish  was  to  secure  the  preaching  of 
Unitarian  ministers  here  for  a  portion  of  the  time. 
This  was  to  be  brought  about  either  by  exchanges  with 
such  clergymen,  or  by  the  settlement  of  a  colleague  of 
liberal  sentiments,  or  by  the  introduction  of  ministers 
of  the  liberal  denomination  at  such  times  as  would  not 
interfere  with  the  services  already  established.  To 
neither  of  these  measures  would  Dr.  Holmes  consent. 
He  claimed  that  the  original  principles  of  the  church 
had  been  maintained  here  with  remarkable  uniformity 


192  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

during  its  whole  history,  inclusive  of  his  own  ministry. 
From  these  principles  he  would  not  depart,  neither 
could  he  consent  that  others  should  come  in  to  undo 
the  work  which  his  predecessors  and  himself  had  ac- 
complished.    His  ordination  vows  were  upon  him. 

I  have  a  document  prepared  by  him,  which  he  en- 
titled "  Keligious  Principles  of  the  Ministers  of  Cam- 
bridge." By  citations  from  their  printed  works,  or  their 
manuscripts,  he  traces  the  line  of  doctrine  from  Shepard 
to  himself.  He  then  adds,  "  Doctrines  held  and  taught 
by  the  present  pastor  from  the  commencement  of  his 
ministry  here  to  this  time  ;  collected  from  his  discourses 
on  the  Anniversary  of  his  Installation."  The  object  is 
to  show  that  there  has  been  no  change  in  doctrinal 
teaching,  and  that  he  is  standing  on  the  old  foundation, 
and  continuing  the  instruction  for  which  he  was  called 
to  this  pastorate. 

Through  all  this  trial  of  his  constancy  the  church 
stood  by  him,  upholding  him  in  his  action,  and  express- 
ing their  decided  approbation  of  the  doctrines  and 
duties  uniformly  inculcated .  by  the  pastor.  They  re- 
monstrated in  writing  against  the  course  which  things 
had  taken.  "  Let  us  not  attempt  to  drive  from  us  a 
man,  by  urging  upon  him  a  course  of  measures,  which, 
should  he  submit  to  them,  would  render  him  a  stranger 
among  his  brethren,  not  satisfy  those  who  make  the 
demand,  and  would  leave  him  dishonored  in  his  own 
eyes  and  in  theirs."  They  made  their  plea  for  those 
not  permitted  to  speak  for  themselves.  "We  also 
apprehend  that,  were  the  females  of  this  parish  allowed 
to  come  here  and  speak,  a  majority  of  them  would 
entreat  you  to  forbear ;  and  we  would  hope  that  we 
shall  not  be  regardless  of  their  feelings,  because  they 


LECTURE   VII.  193 

are  not  allowed  the  poor  privilege  of  begging  you  to 
consider  them."  It  became  evident  that  the  difficulty 
was  not  to  be  settled  by  discussion.  The  church  and 
pastor  on  one  side,  and  the  parish  on  the  other,  were 
alike  decided.  The  pastor  would  be  master  of  his 
pulpit,  admitting  and  excluding  according  to  his  own 
discretion.  The  parish  would  hear  liberal  preaching, 
and  would  not  listen  to  certain  preachers,  Calvinists, 
who  were  invited  by  the  pastor.  For  such  differences 
as  this  Congregationalism,  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles, 
had  made  provision.  In  the  multitude  of  counsellors 
wisdom  was  to  be  sought.  Therefore,  at  length,  the 
parish  proposed  to  the  pastor  to  unite  in  calling  a 
mutual  ecclesiastical  council  to  advise  in  regard  to  the 
matter  in  controversy.  There  could  be  no  objection  to 
a  council.  But  the  church  and  a  minority  of  the  parish 
declared  that  the  ancient  usage  in  New  England,  and 
invariably  in  this  parish,  was  for  the  church  and  par- 
ish to  concur  in  cpiestions  touching  the  settlement  of 
a  minister,  and  in  his  removal  if  that  should  become 
necessary.  It  was  proposed,  therefore,  that  the  council 
should  be  called  by  the  church  and  parish  in  concur- 
rence. But  these  memorials  did  not  induce  the  parish 
to  change  its  course. 

The  church  insisted  upon-  their  right  to  participation 
in  the  calling  of  a  mutual  council,  because  Dr.  Holmes 
was  their  minister,  as  well  as  the  minister  of  the  parish, 
and  had  been  settled  by  them  in  concurrence  with  the 
parish,  and  because  the  proposed  changes  deeply  affected 
their  interests.  The  parish  objected  to  the  admission  of 
the  church,  on  the  ground  that,  if  admitted,  "they  would 
make  all  the  resistance  in  their  power  to  the  attempts 
of  the  parish  to  remedy  the  evils  of  which  they  com- 

13 


194  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

plained,  and  would  give  Dr.  Holmes  all  their  assistance 
and  support  in  his  opposition  to  the  principles  and 
wishes  of  the  parish."  This  fear  was  certainly  well 
grounded.  The  church  were  as  firm  in  defence  of  the 
pastor  as  the  parish  in  opposing  him. 

The  pastor  was  asked  to  confer  with  the  parish  com- 
mittee. He  took  time  to  consider  his  reply.  The 
church  sent  him  a  memorial  assuring  him  of  their 
approval  and  support.  Dr.  Holmes  replied  to  the  par- 
ish, that  he  had  been  settled  by  the  distinct  and  sepa- 
rate, yet  concurrent,  invitation  of  the  church  and  the 
parish,  and  that  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  overlook  or 
to  interfere  with  the  equitable  claims  of  the  church ; 
and  that  he  would  consent  to  a  mutual  ecclesiastical 
council,  if  regularly  called,  according  to  the  usage  of 
our  churches,  that  is,  by  the  church  and  parish  together. 
The  parish  refused  to  have  the  church  considered  in 
the  matter,  placing  their  refusal  upon  the  ground  that 
the  church  had  no  complaint  against  the  pastor  or  the 
parish.  The  pastor  would  not  deny  the  church  their 
right  in  a  matter  so  greatly  concerning  their  welfare. 
Again,  there  was  no  hope  of  agreement  by  discussion. 
The  parish  proceeded  to  call  an  ex  parte  council,  which 
assembled  in  the  old  Court  House  on  the  19th  of  May* 
1829.  It  was  composed  of  the  representatives  of  six 
Unitarian  churches.  A  copy  of  the  complaint  to  be 
presented  against  him  was  given  to  the  pastor  before  the 
meeting  of  the  council.  In  a  written  communication 
to  the  ministers  and  delegates  who  had  been  called  to- 
gether Dr.  Holmes  denied  the  jurisdiction  of  a  council 
called  after  this  manner,  and  the  remonstrance  of  the 
church  and  a  minority  of  the  parish  was  presented. 
These  were  of  no  avail.     The  council  sent  a  committee 


LECTURE   VII.  195 

to  apprise  Dr.  Holmes  of  their  readiness  to  receive 
any  further  information  which  he  or  the  remonstrants 
should  think  proper  to  introduce.  He  received  the 
committee  kindly,  and  replied  "  that  he  had  no  further 
communication  to  make  to  this  council."  After  hearing 
the  complaint  'of  the  parish  against  the  pastor,  which 
embraced  eight  specifications,  the  substance  of  which  has 
already  been  given,  and  listening  to  the  evidence  which 
was  presented  by  the  committee,  and  to  the  argument 
of  the  Hon.  Samuel  Hoar,  counsel  for  the  parish,  this 
ex  parte  council  "voted,  That  the  First  Parish  in  Cam- 
bridge have  sufficient  cause  to  terminate  the  contract 
subsisting  between  them  and  the  Eev.  Dr.  Holmes  as 
their  minister,  and  this  council  recommend  the  measure 
as  necessary  to  the  existence  and  spiritual  prosperity  of 
the  society."  The  parish  accepted  and  confirmed  this 
"  result,"  and  voted  that  the  "  Eev.  Dr.  Abiel  Holmes 
be,  and  he  hereby  is,  dismissed  from  his  office  of  min- 
ister of  the  gospel  and  teacher  of  piety,  religion,  and 
morality  in  said  parish,  and  that  all  connection  be- 
tween said  Holmes  as  such  minister,  or  teacher,  and 
said  parish,  do  and  shall  henceforth  cease."  But  a  grant 
of  three  months'  salary  was  made  "  to  said  Holmes,  on 
equitable  principles,  but  not  as  legal  right " ;  and  he 
was  to  have  the  use  and  occupation  of  the  real  estate 
held  by  him  as  pastor  of  the  parish  "  until  the  twenty- 
fifth  day  of  January  next,  but  no  longer."  In  a  com- 
munication of  the  12th  of  June,  the  committee  of  the 
parish  inform  the  discarded  friend  of  thirty-eight  years, 
that  "they  have  employed  a  preacher  to  supply  the 
pulpit  in  the  meeting-house  of  the  First  Parish  in 
Cambridge  on  the  next  ensuing  Sabbath,  that  they  will 
procure  and  employ  a  preacher  or  preachers   for  the 


196  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

succeeding  Sabbaths,  and  that  your  services  will  not  be 
required  or  authorized  in  the  public  religious  services  in 
the  meeting-house  in  said  parish  hereafter."  Dr.  Holmes 
replied  that  he  had  entered  his  protest  against  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  council,  and  added,  "  I  now  give 
notice  to  you,  and,  through  you,  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  parish,  that  I  still  consider  myself  as  the  lawful 
minister  of  the  parish,  and  hold  myself  ready  to  per- 
form any  and  all  the  duties,  in  or  out  of  the  pulpit, 
which  belong  to  my  office  as  pastor  of  the  First  Church 
and  Society  in  Cambridge."  The  closing  communica- 
tion of  this  long  series  was  addressed  by  the  parish 
committee  to  the  pastor,  and  concludes  in  these  words : 
"  In  answer  to  your  said  letter,  said  committee,  in  be- 
half of  said  parish,  state  to  you  that  said  council  had 
jurisdiction  of  the  complaint  exhibited  to  said  council 
against  you ;  that  said  result  is  legal  and  valid  ;  that 
said  dismission  from  said  office  conforms  to  said  result 
and  to  law  ;  that  your  connection  with  said  parish  as 
their  minister  is  legally  dissolved  ;  that  you  are  not 
the  minister  or  pastor  of  said  parish,  nor  have  you  been 
such  minister  or  pastor  since  said  dismission ;  that 
as  such  minister  or  pastor  you  do  not  owe  any  such 
duties  as  aforesaid  to  said  parish,  and  that  said  parish 
refuses  to  accept  from  you  any  service,  or  services, 
as  such  minister  or  pastor  thereof.  Hereafter  you  can- 
not occupy  nor  use  the  pulpit  of  the  meeting-house  of 
said  parish,  as  it  will  be  exclusively  appropriated  to 
such  preacher  or  preachers  as  said  parish  shall  employ 
to  supply  it." 

I  make  no  comments  upon  this  termination  of  thirty- 
eight  years  of  affectionate  intercourse  in  cares  and 
pleasures,  in  worship  and  work.     But  the  pastor,  thus 


LECTURE    VIL  197 

thrust  out  by  his  own  people,  was  not  without  com- 
fort. He  had  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience,  and 
he  knew  that  he  had  kept  faith  with  the  illustrious 
line  of  ministers  to  which  he  belonged,  and  he  had 
peace  with  God.  In  one  of  the  sermons  upon  the 
anniversary  of  his  installation,  preached  a  few  months 
before  his  dismission,  and  while  the  controversy  was  at 
its  height,  he  used  this  language  :  "  I  acknowledge  that 
the  precept  of  the  gospel,  ■  If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as 
lieth  in  you,  live  peaceably  with  all  men,'  is  alike  bind- 
ing upon  us,  the  ministers  of  Christ,  as  upon  you  who 
pertain  to  our  charge.  But  whether  it  were  possible  for 
a  minister  to  live  peaceably  with  those  who  would  con- 
strain him  to  bring  into  the  pulpit  doctrines  which  he 
does  not  believe  to  be  Scriptural,  or  to  invite  others 
to  stand  there  and  deliver  them  in  his  place;  with 
those,  who,  in  disregard  of  his  pastoral  responsibility, 
and  of  his  right  of  private  judgment  and  conscience, 
would  have  him  do  what  he  cannot  do  honestly,  and 
jwhat,  if  done,  would,  in  his  judgment,  be  of  baneful 
tendency  and  influence,  with  respect  both  to  the  peape 
of  the  society  and  to  the  welfare  of  the  church  com- 
mitted to  Ms  care,  —  whether  it  were  possible  to  live 
peaceably  with  all  men,  were  such  things  asked  or 
expected  of  him,  judge  ye."  Thus  speaks  the  pastor 
in  his  own  defence.  He  carried  a  manly,  dignified, 
Christian  spirit  through  the  whole  discussion.  He  was 
willing  to  give  to  others  the  liberty  of  conscience 
he  asked  for  himself.  He  was  the  minister  of  Christ, 
set  for  the  defence  and  furtherance  of  the  gospel. 
It  was  his  heart's  desire  to  gratify  his  beloved  people  in 
all  ways  consistent  with  his  vows,  and  with  his  duty 
to  Christ  and  the  church.    He  was  not  his  own.    What 


198  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

would  the  Lord  have  him  to  do  ?  He  testified  that  he 
had  "  devoutly  and  importunately  sought  Divine  light 
and  guidance."  He  spoke  like  an  apostle :  "  If  I  seem 
to  disregard  the  wishes  or  the  taste  of  my  hearers,  it  is 
because  I  am  more  desirous  to  save  than  to  please 
them."  In  his  reply  to  a  letter  asking  a  copy  of  these 
anniversary  sermons  for  publication,  Dr.  Holmes 
writes,  "The  fulness  of  our  assemblies,  and  their  in- 
creased solemnity ;  the  considerable  accessions  to  the 
church ;  the  degree  of  unanimity  of  the  church  in  its 
memorial,  and  in  its  address  to  the  pastor,  are  at  once 
consolatory  and  encouraging." 

There  was  but  one  course  open  to  the,  church,  and 
that  was  to  withdraw  from  the  parish.  They  desired 
to  go  out  from  the  parish  meeting-house,  and  to  meet 
for  worship  in  some  other  place,  where  they  could  enjoy 
the  ministrations  of  their  pastor.  He  acceded  to  their 
desire,  and,  crossing  the  street,  as  the  founder  of  the 
church  had  crossed  the  sea,  the  pastor  and  church 
began  Divine  service  in  the  old  Court  House,  in 
the  presence  of  "  a  full,  attentive,  and  solemn  assembly." 
On  the  last  Sabbath  which  the  church  spent  in  the  old 
meeting-house,  Dr.  Holmes  preached  from  St.  John's 
words,  "  I  have  no  greater  joy  than  to  hear  that  my 
children  walk  in  truth."  Near  the  close  he  said,  ten- 
derly, "  These,  my  beloved  brethren,  these,  my  dear 
children,  —  for  such  you  will  allow  me  to  call  you,  — 
these  are  sources  of  the  greatest  joy  to  him  who  labors 
among  you  in  word  and  doctrine.  Fulfil  ye  therefore 
my  joy.  Be  steadfast  in  faith  and  holy  in  life."  The 
next  Sabbath  morning  the  church  was  in  the  Court 
House,  when  the  pastor  preached  from  the  words  of  St. 
Peter,  "Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning  the 


LECTURE   VII.  199 

fiery  trial  which  is  to  try  you,  as  though  some  strange 
thing  happened  unto  you  ;  but  rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye 
are  partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings ;  that,  when  his 
glory  shall  be  revealed,  ye  may  be  glad  also  with  ex- 
ceeding joy."  The  text  was  affectionately  commended 
to  the  remembrance  of  "  all  who  are  in  affliction,  and 
especially  to  the  church  and  the  attendant  worshippers 
constrained  to  assemble  in  this  place." 

"  The  whole  number  of  members  belonging  to  the 
church  at  that  time  was  about  ninety,  full  two  thirds 
of  whom  followed  the  pastor  and  attended  upon  his 
ministry.  The  number  of  male  members  was  twenty- 
one,  fifteen  of  whom  were  the  uniform  friends  and  sup- 
porters of  the  pastor,  and  two  only  took  an  active  part 
in  the  measures  of  the  parish  "  for  his  dismission.  "  Of 
the  whole  number  who  usually  worshipped  in  the 
meeting-house  previous  to  the  separation,  about  one 
half  have  withdrawn,  and  statedly  worship  with  the 
church  and  its  pastor."  "  Let  all  things  be  done  de- 
cently and  in  order."  The  church  and  pastor  proceeded 
to  call  an  advisory  council,  which  met  on  the  17th  of 
June,  1829.  Did  they  select  the  17th  of  June  from 
any  feeling  of  its  fitness  to  their  condition  and  reso- 
lution arising  from  its  historic  associations  ?  Ten 
churches  were  represented  in,  the  council.  It  was  a 
grand  assembly  of  men.  William  Greenough  was 
moderator.  There  were  Daniel  Dana,  Moses  Stuart, 
Benjamin  B.  Wisner,  and  others  worthy  of  such  fellow- 
ship. The  church  and  the  pastor  told  their  story.  The 
substance  of  the  result  was  in  these  words :  "  As  Dr. 
Holmes  is  still,  according  to  ecclesiastical  usage,  the 
pastor  and  minister  of  the  first  church  and  parish  in 
Cambridge,  and  as  the  parish  has  by  its  votes  excluded 


200  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

him  from  its  pulpit,  the  council  approve  the  course  pur- 
sued by  him  in  continuing  to  perforin  parochial  duties 
wherever  and  to  whomsoever  he  may  have  opportunity, 
and  advise  him  and  the  church  and  other  friends  of  truth 
'  not  to  forsake  the  assembling  of  themselves  together ' ; 
but  to  maintain  Divine  worship  and  the  celebration  of 
Divine  ordinances."  The  church  approved  this  advice, 
and  resolved  to  follow  religiously  the  counsel  given  them. 

As  the  church  was  separated  from  the  First  Parish, 
it  was  necessary  to  organize  another  society,  to  include 
others  besides  members  of  the  church,  and  to  be  the 
parish  with  which  the  church  should  be  connected. 
Such  a  society  was  formed,  and  the  society  unanimously 
voted  that  it  should  bear  the  name  of  "  The  Holmes 
Congregational  Society."  But  the  good  man  declined 
the  proffered  honor,  and  advised  that  the  name  of  the 
first  of  his  line  should  be  chosen  for  that  use.  In 
accordance  with  his  wish  the  new  body  took  the  title 
of  "  The  Shepard  Congregational  Society."  The  pastor 
could  not  connect  himself  with  this  organization, 
because  he  did  not  consider  himself  legally  and  accord- 
ing to  established  usage  dismissed  from  his  pastoral 
connection  with  the  First  Parish.  But  the  church 
agreed  to  unite  with  the  new  society  to  maintain  "  the 
worship  and  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  according  to  the 
established  principles  and  usages  of  Congregational 
churches  in  this  Commonwealth."  This  union  was  to 
last  until  the  rights  of  the  church  and  pastor  should  be 
again  respected  by  the  First  Parish. 

With  the  approval  of  the  aged  pastor,  it  was  decided 
to  associate  a  colleague  with  him,  and  Mr.  Nehemiah 
Adams,  Jr.,  was  invited,  and  was  ordained  on  the  17th 
of  December,  1829.     A  lot  of  land  for  a  new  meet- 


LECTURE   VII.  201 

ing-house  was  given  by  Miss  Sarah  Ann  Dana,  and 
funds  were  collected  at  home  and  abroad  for  the  erec- 
tion of  the  house.  It  is  said  that  Dr.  Holmes  was  the 
largest  contributor  to  the  building-fund  for  the  new 
house.  At  six  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of 
August,  1830,  the  ground  was  broken,  with  prayer  and 
singing,  and  a  brief  address  by  the  senior  pastor.  On 
the  21st  of  September  the  corner-stone  was  laid  with 
fitting  ceremonies.  On  that  occasion  an  address  was 
delivered  by  the  Eev.  Samuel  Green,  of  Boston.  This 
address  is  an  index  of  the  feeling  of  the  church,  and  of 
the  sentiment  of  those  around  them  who  held  with 
them  to  the  faith  and  order  of  the  fathers,  and  many 
of  whom  had  suffered  in  like  manner.  This  speaker 
felt  the  greatness  of  the  time  and  the  significance  of 
the  service  in  which  he  bore  a  part.  One  sentence  will 
illustrate  the  prevailing  feeling :  "  "We  speak  with 
freedom  and  boldness,  as  becometh  the  descendants  of 
Puritans  on  Puritan  ground."  On  the  23d  of  February, 
1831,  the  house  was  dedicated  to  God,  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost.  The  sermon  was  preached  by  the 
senior  pastor  from  the  words  of  the  Lord  by  Jeremiah : 
"  Therefore  hear,  ye  nations,  and  know,  0  congregation, 
what  is  among  them."  The  sermon  in  the  new  house  on 
the  first  Sabbath  morning  after  the  dedication  was  also 
by  Dr.  Holmes,  and  was  from  the  words,  "  The  Lord  is 
in  his  holy  temple."  After  the  sermon  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered.  That  house, 
repeatedly  enlarged  and  improved,  has  been  the  home 
of  this  church  until  this  day. 

After  the  separation  the  Eev.  William  Newell  was 
called  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  parish,  and  he  was 
ordained  May  19,  1830.     The  old  meeting-house  con- 


202  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

tinued  to  be  used  by  the  parish  until  December,  1833, 
when  it  was  taken  down.  A  new  house  had  been 
erected  nearly  opposite,  and  this  was  dedicated  Decem- 
ber 12,  1833.  That  is  the  house  still  used  by  the  First 
Parish,  although  it  has  been  very  much  changed  in  its 
interior  arrangements.  Its  ample  walls  have  held  most 
of  the  large  assemblies  in  connection  with  the  College, 
and  from  its  doors  year  by  year  the  graduating  class 
has  gone  out  to  its  work  in  the  world. 

Dr.  Newell  has  remained  until  recently  in  the  pas- 
toral office  here ;  and  now,  although  released  from  offi- 
cial service,  he  dwells  among  his  own  people,  crowning 
the  labors  of  forty  years  by  ministering  to  them  still  in 
their  joy  and  grief  with  paternal  kindness,  blessing 
them  with  the  ripe  and  abundant  fruitage  of  his  long, 
industrious,  and  beautiful  life. 

When  this  church  celebrated  the  twenty-fifth  anni- 
versary of  Dr.  Albro's  settlement,  Dr.  Newell  was  able 
to  say,  in  all  sincerity,  that  the  personal  relations  of 
these  neighboring  ministers  had  always  been  pleasant 
and  friendly.  He  was  ready  to  manifest  what  he  de- 
scribed as  "the  kindly  feeling  which  I  hope  will  always 
subsist,  not  only  between  your  pastor  and  myself,  but 
also  between  the  societies  with  which  we  are  connected ; 
branches  as  they  are  of  the  same  old  stock,  descended 
from  the  same  old  congregational  family,  looking  back, 
amidst  their  honest  differences  of  opinion,  with  common 
pride  to  a  common  ancestry." 

Let  his  good  words  stand  in  this  record  at  the  place 
where  the  church  and  the  parish  took  their  different 
paths. 

It  would  be  pleasant  to  pause  here.  But  history  sets 
its.  own  bounds.     In  February,  1831,  the  deacon  of  the 


Meeting-House  ekected  by  the  First  Paeish  in  1833. 


LECTURE   VII.  ■  203 

portion  of  the  church  which  remained  with  the  First 
Parish  demanded  of  the  deacons  of  the  church  the 
delivery  of  certain  articles  of  church  property,  to  wit, 
the  church  fund,  the  poor's  fund,  the  Communion  ser- 
vice and  baptismal  basin,  the  church  records  and 
papers,  the  library,  and  a  few  minor  things.  The  de- 
mand was  not  obeyed,  and  in  August  a  suit  at  law  was 
begun.  The  church  appointed  a  committee  to  take 
legal  advice,  and  to  defend  the  church  in  its  rights,  or, 
if  found  necessary,  to  surrender  the  property  to  the 
parish.  They  found  that,  by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  church  could  not  re- 
tain the  property,  and  it  was  accordingly  given  up  to  the 
parish  under  the  constraint  of  the  law  as  it  had  been 
interpreted.  The  decision  upon  which  this  action  was 
based  was  made  in  what  is  known  as  the  Dedham  case, 
and  was  given  in  1820.  The  principle  laid  down  by 
the  court  was  this  :  "  Where  a  majority  of  the  members 
of  a  congregational  church  separate  from  the  majority 
of  the  parish,  the  members  who  remain,  although 
a  minority,  constitute  the  church  in  such  parish,  and 
retain  the  rights  and  property  belonging  thereto." 
The  church  was  regarded  as  holding  ordinary  property 
in  trust  for  the  benefit  of  the  parish,  while  to  property 
of  such  a  nature  as  to  be  a  trust  simply  for  church  uses, 
as  the  Communion  service,  and  to  property  which  might 
be  given  expressly  for  the  use  of  the  poor  of  the  church, 
the  parish  would  have  no  claim.  But,  so  far  as  pro- 
perty was  concerned,  under  this  decision,  there  was  no 
church  separate  from  a  parish.  Property,  I  say.  For 
the  court  said,  "  That  any  number  of  the  members  of  a 
church,  who  disagree  with  their  brethren  or  with  the 
minister  or  with  the  parish,  may  withdraw  from  fellow- 


204  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

ship  with  them,  and  act  as  a  church  in  a  religious  point 
of  view,  having  the  ordinances  administered  and  other 
religious  offices  performed,  it  is  not  necessary  to  deny ; 
indeed,  this  would  be  a  question  proper  for  an  ecclesias- 
tical council  to  settle,  if  any  should  dispute  their  claim. 
But  as  to  all  civil  purposes,  the  secession  of  a  whole 
church  from  the  parish  would  be  an  extinction  of  the 
church ;  and  it  is  competent  to  the  members  of  the 
parish  to  institute  a  new  church,  or  to  ingraft  one  upon 
the  old  stock  if  any  of  it  should  remain  ;  and  this  new 
church  would  succeed  to  all  the  rights  of  the  old  in 
relation  to  the  parish."  This  distinction  between  a 
church  in  law,  as  a  holder  of  property,  and  a  church 
ecclesiastically,  was  repeated  when  the  church  in  Harvard 
College  was  cited  as  an  instance  of  a  church  existing 
without  any  parish.  The  court  replied,  "  We  have  before 
said  that  it  was  not  intended  to  deny  that  there  may  be 
such  churches  in  an  ecclesiastical  sense."  In  this  case  of 
ours  about  one  third  of  the  members  of  the  church  had 
remained  with  the  parish.  This  decision  pronounced 
that  fraction  the  church  so  far,  and  only  so  far,  as  civil 
rights  were  concerned.  The  property  was  therefore 
delivered  to  them,  as  it  must  have  been  had  but  a 
single  person  remained;  nay,  if  not  a  member  had 
remained,  the  parish  could  have  organized  a  new 
church,  which  would  have  been  entitled  to  all  the  prop- 
erty hitherto  enjoyed  by  the  old.  I  beg  that  it  may 
be  noticed  that,  even  under  this  remarkable  decision, 
the  ecclesiastical  existence  and  rights  of  the  church 
were  not  impaired  by  the  separation  of  the  church  from 
the  parish.  But  the  ecclesiastical  existence  of  a  church 
is  surely  its  real  existence.  Under  this  decision,  if  the 
object  of  a  church  is  to  hold  property,  then  the  part  of 


LECTURE   VII.  205 

a  church,  be  it  large  or  small  or  imaginary,  which 
adheres  to  the  parish  is  the  old  church.  But  if  the 
object  of  a  church  is  to  maintain  the  worship  of  God 
and  observe  his  ordinances,  then  the  church  is  in- 
dependent of  the  parish,  and  by  its  own  action  can  re- 
move to  another  building  or  another  town,  and  still  be 
the  old  church  with  the  old  name.  Therefore,  even  under 
this  decision  which  took  away  the  property,  this  church 
of  ours  ecclesiastically,  and  for  those  purposes  for  which 
churches  were  instituted  by  the  Lord  and  his  Apostles, 
and  for  which  this  church  was  established  by  men  who 
had  exiled  themselves,  not  for  property,  but  for  con- 
science' sake  ;  not  to  hold  lands,  but  to  hold  the  faith, 
and  enjoy  it,  and  transmit  it,  —  this  church  of  the  Puri- 
tans, this  church  of  Christ,  remains  what  it  was  in  the 
days  of  Shepard,  "  The  First  Church  in  Cambridge." 
Such  was  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts ;  such  was  the  decision  of  an  ecclesiastical 
council ;  such  has  been  the  usage  of  Congregational 
churches  from  the  beginning. 

In  regard  to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  it  is 
proper  to  say  that  to  a  great  extent  it  failed  to  receive 
the  approval  of  the  public,  and  of  many  eminent  jurists. 
The  able  author  of  the  "  Half-Century  of  the  Unitarian 
Controversy "  has  frankly  written,  "  We  do  not  feel 
perfectly  satisfied  with  the  legal  decision  in  two  cases 
bearing  upon  the  ownership  of  church  property,  though 
we  admit  that  the  issue  raised  was  quite  a  perplexing 
one." 

In  our  own  case  the  decision  was  peculiarly  hard. 
For  "  the  church  fund,  for  the  recovery  of  which  this 
suit  was  brought,  was  originally  constituted  by  the 
donation  of  fifty  pounds  by  a  member  of  the  church, 


206  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

and  increased  entirely  by  contributions  of  the  church- 
members  at  the  Lord's  Supper.  A  part  of  the  church 
plate  was  given  to  the  church,  and  the  rest  was  pur- 
chased with  its  own  funds."  The  baptismal  basin  was 
the  gift  of  the  Eev.  William  Brattle,  Pastor,  "  to  the 
church  of  Christ  in  Cambridge,  my  dearly  beloved 
flock."  The  money  surrendered  amounted  to  upwards 
of  four  thousand  dollars. 

But,  whatever  might  have  been  the  justice  of  the 
decision  under  which  this  property  was  given  up,  it 
must  seem  to  us,  who  have  succeeded  the  two  parties  in 
the  controversy,  and  who  look  calmly  upon  the  matter 
after  the  lapse  of  forty  years,  that  the  true  course 
for  old  neighbors  and  fellow  -  worshippers  was  to 
make  a  fair  division.  The  majority  of  the  parish 
should  have  said  to  the  minority,  "  Friends,  it  is  plain 
that  we  cannot  dwell  together  in  peace ;  let  us  divide 
our  goods,  and  separate."  The  majority  of  the  church 
should  have  said  to  those  of  the  church  who  agreed 
with  the  parish,  "  Brethren,  we  have  come  to  hold  dif- 
ferent views  and  to  desire  different  things  ;  let  us  divide 
our  goods,  and  separate."  These  are  things  of  the  past. 
The  generation  which  moved  in  them  has  gone  on  to 
God,  who  knoweth  the  hearts  of  the  children  of  men. 
We  who  have  entered  into  their  places  in  the  old 
church  and  old  parish  dwell  together  in  peace.  There 
are  honest  differences  of  opinion,  but  we  have  no  con- 
troversy. We  are  good  neighbors,  and  join  hands  in 
many  good  works.  Let  the  ancient  strife  be  buried 
and  forgotten,  while  we  both  strive  to  excel  in  love  for 
God  and  in  service  for  man.  Not  for  purposes  of  con- 
troversy, but  because  they  came  in  the  course  of  our 
church  history,  have  I  recalled  these  painful  events. 


LECTURE    VII.  207 

These  were  sad  experiences  for  the  church.  It  was 
sad  to  be  loosed  from  the  parish,  to  be  exiled  from  the 
meeting-house,  to  give  up  the  sacred  vessels  of  the 
sacraments,  and  the  silver  and  gold  wherewith  they 
had  served  God  and  relieved  his  poor.  But  they  had 
themselves,  and  their  minister,  and  their  ancient  faith. 
The  eternal  things  were  unseen  and  indestructible. 
They  had  courage  and  hope.  They  were  ready  to  begin 
again.  The  senior  pastor,  it  is  believed,  drew  no  salary 
after  the  separation.  Christian  friends  in  other  places 
came  to  the  aid  of  the  impoverished  church  with 
generous  gifts.  The  trials  of  that  day  were  of  great 
profit  to '  the  church.  They  were  aroused  to  greater 
activity,  to  a  closer  fellowship,  to  a  fresh  study  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  to  more  diligent  endeavors  to  make  the 
truth  felt  in  the  blessedness  of  its  power.  This  is  a 
better  church  to-day  for  the  severity  of  those  trying 
times.  In  our  ability  to  erect  the  sanctuary  which  we 
are  soon  to  consecrate  to  God  we  have  the  visible  sign 
of  his  favor  which  was  with  the  fathers  and  has  been 
continued  to  the  children. 

In  their  time  of  especial  need  He  came  to  his  people 
with  large  blessings.  The  preaching  was  "  in  demon- 
stration of  the  Spirit  and  of  power."  The  meetings  for 
prayer  were  solemn  and  effective.  The  Lord  watered 
the  grass,  even  the  mown  grass.  In  the  year  following 
the  separation  thirty-one  persons  were  received  to  the 
church,  twenty-four  of  them  upon  profession  of  faith. 
In  the  next  year  twenty-three  were  added,  all  but  two 
of  whom  came  upon  profession  of  faith.  In  a  very 
short  time  the  membership  of  the  church  was  doubled. 
The  Lord  interposed  for  the  comfort  of  the  church,  and 
prepared  a  table  before  them.     After  the  Communion 


208  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

service  had  been  given  up,  members  of  the  church  fur- 
nished their  private  plate  for  use  at  the  Communion. 
But  the  junior  pastor  came  into  possession  of  the  auto- 
biography of  Thomas  Shepard,  which  was  given  in  trust 
to  him  and  his  successors  in  the  ministry  of  "  The 
Shepard  Congregational  Society."  To  this  book  ref- 
erence was  made  in  a  previous  lecture.  This  book  was 
printed,  and  with  the  proceeds  of  its  sale  was  purchased 
the  service  from  which  the  church  now  receives  the 
body  and  blood  of  its  Saviour  and  Lord.  Thus  do  the 
hands  of  the  first  minister  serve  us  still  in  holy  things. 
We  believe  in  the  communion  of  saints  on  earth  and  in 
heaven,  and  in  this  sacrament  is  the  happy  symbol  of  it. 
Here  is  the  book  wherein  that  suffering,  godly,  now 
sainted  man,  wrote  the  story  of  his  life,  that  his  son 
might  "learn  to  know  and  love  the  great  and  most 
high  God,  the  G-od  of  his  father."  No  man  knoweth 
Thomas  Shepard's  grave,  but  this  small,  rude  book, 
which  his  hands  have  handled  and  hallowed,  holds  his 
expression  of  his  life.  No  chiselled  inscription  recites 
his  praise,  but  the  crooked  letters  which  his  fingers  set 
in  these  closely  written  lines  reveal  his  piety  and  affec- 
tion ;  and  the  souls  which  cherish  his  memory  keep 
tryst  with  him  here,  as  at_  a  shrine. 

The  pastoral  work  of  Dr.  Holmes  drew  towards  its 
close.  His  continued  and  increasing  debility  unfitted 
him  for  the  duties  of  the  pastoral  office,  and  he  asked 
release.  The  church  consented,  and  a  council  was 
called  which  confirmed  the  action.  The  council  bore  a 
noble  testimony  to  the  character  and  learning  of  the 
retiring  pastor.  He  preached  his  farewell  sermon  on 
the  2d  of  October,  1831.  He  died  on  the  12th  of 
June,    1837,   in   the   seventy-fourth  year   of  his   age. 


LECTURE   VII.  209 

I  have  the  manuscript  of  his  farewell  sermon.  The 
text  is  from  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  iii.  8  : 
"  For  now  we  live,  if  ye  stand  fast  in  the  Lord."  It 
is  full  of  affectionate  advice  and  entreaty  and  bless- 
ing ;  such  a  sermon  as  we  should  expect  from  such  a 
man.  I  copy  a  few  sentences  addressed  to  the  church  : 
"  To  you,  my  dearly  beloved  of  this  church,  I  offer  a 
parting  benediction.  The  remembrance  of  the  tokens 
and  proofs  of  your  affection  and  steadfastness  in  time 
past,  especially  in  the  time  of  our  calamity,  can  never 
be  obliterated.  Danger  did  not  intimidate,  sufferings 
did  not  discourage  you.  When  the  storm  was  beating 
upon  us,  you  stood  firm  under  the  open  canopy  of 
heaven  to  receive  it.  When  the  tide  was  rising  and 
pressing  hard  upon  us,  you  stood  firm  to  meet  it. 
When  resistance  would  avail  nothing,  you  stood  still 
and  saw  the  salvation  of  God.  If  it  had  not  been 
the  Lord  who  was  on  our  side,  now  may  we  unitedly 
say,  then  the  waters  had  overwhelmed  us,  the  stream 
had  gone  over  our  souls.  Our  help  is  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord;  to  him  be  the  glory.  Let  this  house 
which  we  have  built  for  the  honor  of  his  name  be 
at  once  a  monument  of  our  gratitude  and  a  temple 
for  his  praise."  The  impression  was  unspeakably  touch- 
ing and  tender  when,  after  the  sermon,  the  71st  Psalm 
was  given  out  by  the  aged  man  of  God  — 

"  God  of  my  childhood  and  my  youth 
The  guide  of  all  my  days, 
I  have  declar'd  thy  heavenly  truth, 
And  told  thy  wondrous  ways. 

"Wilt  thou  forsake  my  hoary  hairs, 
And  leave  my  fainting  heart  ? 
Who  shall  sustain  my  sinking  years, 
If  God,  my  strength,  depart  ? 
14 


210  FIRST   CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

"  Let  me  thy  power  and  truth  proclaim 
To  the  surviving  age, 
And  leave  a  savor  of  thy  name 
When  I  shall  quit  the  stage. 

"The  land  of  silence  and  of  death 
Attends  my  next  remove  ; 
0,  may  these  poor  remains  of  breath 
Teach  the  wide  world  thy  love  !  " 

The  ministry  of  Dr.  Holmes  here  was  but  a  few 
months  short  of  forty  years.  With  a  single  exception, 
it  was  the  longest  which  the  church  has  known.  For 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  time  he  was  the  only  pastor  in 
this  part  of  the  town,  and  he  stood  at  the  centre  of  a 
large  parish,  making  his  influence  felt  in  every  direc- 
tion. He  preached  the  word  with  fidelity  and  dili- 
gence. He  fulfilled  the  various  offices  of  our  holy 
religion.  He  instructed  the  children,  and  gave  them 
books.  He  formed  libraries  for  the  use  of  the  parish. 
He  watched  over  the  schools.  He  gave  of  his  substance 
to  the  poor.  He  brought  into  the  parish  the  aid  of 
others  whom  he  esteemed  able  to  edify  the  people.  He 
zealously  followed  every  good  work.  He  was  a  true 
friend  to  our  College.  During  a  portion  of  its  earlier 
history  the  Society  of  Christian  Brethren  held  its 
meetings  at  his  house.  He  lived  here,  before  the 
people,  a  life  of  purity  and  sanctity  and  usefulness,  an 
Israelite  without  guile,  a  man  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  of  faith.  In  the  day  of  trial  he  showed  the  sustain- 
ing power  of  his  principles  and  his  piety,  and  he  won 
the  commendation  of  men,  the  increased  affection  of 
his  own  people,  and  the  esteem  of  the  churches.  In 
temper  Dr.  Holmes  was  calm  and  quiet;  in  manner, 
urbane   and  courteous.     He  cherished  a  large  charity. 


LECTURE    VII.  211 

He  taught  his  own  household  what  he  practised  him- 
self, to  be  careful  of  the  reputation  of  others,  and  not  to 
take  up  a  reproach  against  a  neighbor.  His  preaching- 
was  quiet,  but  his  sermons  were  pure  in  style,  rich 
in  the  use  of  words,  happy  in  the  application  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  full  of  profitable  thought.  He  was  conser- 
vative and  cautious,  no  declaimer,  not  much  given  to 
the  discussion  of  the  doctrines  of  theology,  but  engaged 
with  the  facts  of  religion  and  their  application  to  real 
life.  His  old  friend,  Dr.  Jenks,  in  a  memorial  sermon 
delivered  here  on  the  Sabbath  after  Dr.  Holmes's  death, 
very  truly  remarks,  "  That  blending  of  moderation  and 
modesty  with  firmness  and  decision  of  character,  where 
decision  and  firmness  are  needed,  constitute,  if  I  mis- 
take not,  an  enviable,  or  rather  a  desirable,  distinction. 
Especially  in  these  days  ....  we  can  hardly  praise  too 
highly  the  peaceful,  laborious,  faithful,  and  humble  fol- 
lower and  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  learned 
without  vanity  or  dogmatism,  pious  without  cant  or 
fitfulness,  and  charitable  without  ostentation.  And 
such,  if  I  mistake  not,  was  our  beloved  and  lamented 
friend.  Never  in  extremes  or  chargeable  with  ex- 
travagance, his  deportment  and  character  united,  in  no 
common  degree,  the  gentleman,  the  scholar,  and  the 
Christian."  When  he  was  no  longer  the  pastor  of  the 
church,  he  continued  to  cherish  a  warm  interest  in  all 
that  concerned  it,  and  aided  it  as  he  was  able.  Some 
who  were  children  in  his  day  recall  his  kindly  manner 
towards  them,  and  like  to  tell  how,  as  he  walked  the 
street  with  his  well-remembered  cane,  he  would  pause  at 
a  group  of  school-children,  and,  with  a  pleasant  question 
and  a  word  of  counsel,  would  draw  from  his  capacious 
pocket  a  handful  of  confectionery,  which  he  distributed 


212  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

among  the  expectant  listeners.  And  they  tell  how  he 
stood  here  before  the  pulpit  a  few  weeks  before  his 
death,  and  gave  a  good  book  to  each  of  the  members 
of  the  Sabbath  School  as  they  passed  before  him. 

Dr.  Holmes  left  a  large  number  of  printed  works, 
consisting  chiefly  of  sermons  preached  on  various  occa- 
sions, at  an  ordination  or  a  funeral,  on  a  Fast  or  Thanks- 
giving Day.  One  was  preached  on  the  death  of  Wash- 
ington ;  one  to  commend  the  counsel  of  Washington ; 
one  to  celebrate  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims.  He  com- 
piled and  published  the  biography  of  President  Stiles 
with  great  taste  and  judgment.  He  published  a  small 
"  History  of  Cambridge,"  which  is  invaluable  to  any 
one  interested  in  the  ancient  town.  His  largest  work 
was  "  The  Annals  of  America,  from  the  discovery  by 
Columbus  in  the  year  1492  to  the  year  1826."  This 
work  reached  a  second  edition,  and  was  republished  in 
England.  "  It  is  not  only  regarded  as  a  standard  work 
in  this  country,  but  has  attracted  the  respectful  atten- 
tion of  European  critics."  His  early  intercourse  with 
President  Stiles,  whose  daughter  he  married,  fostered  a 
literary  taste,  and  not  unlikely  gave  his  mind  a  bent 
towards  historical  research.  As  an  historian  he  was 
patient  and  accurate,  and  his  books  will  live.  In  1816 
this  "  renowned  antiquary "  discovered  in  the  Prince 
Library  the  third  manuscript  volume  of  Winthrop's 
Journal,  which  was  deciphered  and  published.  He 
was  connected  with  a  number  of  societies.  From  1798 
he  was  a  most  devoted  friend  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  and  for  more  than  twenty  years  its 
corresponding  secretary.  He  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Society  for  promoting  Christian  Knowledge, 
and  of  the   American   Education    Society.      He    was 


LECTURE    VII.  213 

a  member  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Institution  at 
Andover,  and  an  Overseer  of  Harvard  University.  His 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  received  from  the 
University  of  Edinburgh  about  1805,  and  he  was  made 
Doctor  of  Laws  by  Alleghany  College  in  1822.  Through 
these  years  of  this  extended  fame  and  influence  he 
was  performing  the  laborious  duties  of  pastor  in  a 
large  and  important  parish. 

Here  is  his  well-worn  sermon-case,  and  fastened  in 
it,  as  he  left  them,  are  two  sermons,  one  a  double  ser- 
mon, preached  in  February,  1836,  and  the  other  in 
December,  1836.  He  closes  the  former,  which  was  de- 
livered on  the  two-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  organi- 
zation of  the  church,  with  paternal  counsel  to  the 
brethren  of  the  church,  to  the  dear  children,  and  to 
those  of  the  society  who  were  not  connected  with  the 
church.  Then  followed  the  benediction  of  peace. 
"When  he  had  addressed  the  church,  he  seems  to  have 
turned  to  him  who  for  thirty  years  was  to  stand  in  his 
place,  but  who  had  then  just  entered  upon  his  work. 
Both  have  passed  on  ;  but  the  written  prayer  remains. 
"  May  you,  my  brother,  still  live,  sustained  and  ani- 
mated by  the  steadfastness  and  vitality  of  the  church 
under  your  pastoral  care  ;  live  to  see  its  increase  in  num- 
bers and  in  graces,  and,  at  a  distant  period,  finish  your 
course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  you  have  re- 
ceived of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  be  ready  to  depart,  and 
to  give  up  your  account  with  joy.  Mine  I  must  soon 
give  up,  for  I  have  nearly  finished  my  course.  And 
what,  next  to  the  personal  hope  which  is  an  anchor  to 
our  own  souls,  —  what  is  our  hope  or  joy  or  crown  of 
rejoicing  ?     Are  not  the  church  and  dear  people  of  our 


214  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

pastoral  care,  are  not  even  ye,  dearly  beloved,  in  the 
presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming  ? "  He 
closed  the  latter  sermon  with  these  words  :  "  Does  any 
one  ask,  What  have  I  to  give  on  this  day  of  Thanks- 
giving ?  I  answer,  there  is  one  gift  which  every  one  in 
this  assembly,  old  or  young,  rich  or  poor,  may  alike 
offer  with  the  assurance  that  it  will  be  accepted.  It  is 
the  gift  of  himself.  Who  will  refuse  this  to  Him  who 
is  crowning  your  life  with  his  goodness,  and  who  is  this 
day  reminding  you  that  while  he  giveth  us  richly  all 
things  to  enjoy,  he  is,  by  the  unspeakable  gift  of  his 
son  Jesus  Christ,  presenting  us  with  the  hope  of  life 
and  immortality  ?  I  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren, 
by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies  a 
living  sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable  to  him,  which  is 
your  reasonable  service."  Thus,  being  dead,  he  yet 
speaketh.  Once  again  these  walls  hear  the  sound  of 
his  good  words.  Hear  them,  beloved,  as  spoken  out  of 
heaven. 

He  preached  his  last  sermon  here  to  his  old  people, 
on  the  22d  of  January,  1837,  and  its  subject  was,  "The 
vanity  of  life  a  reason  for  seeking  a  portion  in  heaven." 
An  illness  of  a  few  weeks  terminated  his  long  and 
useful  life.  A  severe  paralytic  shock  a  few  days  before 
his  death  rendered  him  almost  helpless,  and  made  his 
articulation  very  imperfect.  But  he  was  comforted 
with  the  faith  he  had  preached  to  others,  and  rejoiced 
in  the  cheerful  hope  of  immortal  blessedness  through 
the  grace  of  Christ  his  Saviour.  He  died  in  charity 
with  all  men.  To  a  friend  who  bent  over  him  on  the 
the  last  night  in  his  life  he  gave  indistinct  utterance 
to  his  charity,  and  said  that  he  wished  his  injuries 
written  in  sand.     He  died  on  Sunday  morning,  as  the 


SSs^gtSP®^ 


Rev.  T)r.  Holmes's  Residence  krom  1307. 


LECTURE   VTL  215 

bell  which  he  had  been  wont  to  obey  was  calling  the 
people  to  worship.  He  died,  having  the  respect  and 
affection  of  the  community.  The  bells  of  the  town 
were  tolled  on  the  day  of  his  death,  in  recognition  of 
his  worth  and  in  tribute  to  his  memory.  His  second 
wife,  the  mother  of  his  children,  the  daughter  of  the 
Hon.  Oliver  Wendell,  long  survived  him,  and  received 
the  affectionate  homage  of  many  hearts,  both  for  her 
own  excellence  and  for  her  association  witli  him  whose 
life  she  had  shared  and  adorned. 

He  was  first  laid  in  the  sacred  field  where  all  his 
predecessors  had  been  buried,  where  they  awaited  the 
resurrection.  But  his  remains  were  afterwards  removed 
to  Mount  Auburn.  There  he  lies,  in  the  company  of  the 
great  and  good.  But  his  church  has  graven  his  name 
upon  the  column  which  is  sacred  to  the  memory  of  her 
ministers  who  have  gone  to  their  reward,  and  which  rises 
above  the  dust  of  him  who  last  had  rest  from  the  duties 
of  his  office.  The  names  of  both  will  be  read  on  the 
mural  tablet  which  will  make  our  new  church  more  hal- 
lowed ;  and  their  initial  letters  in  monogram,  carved  in 
stone,  are  at  the  sides  of  the  main  entrance  to  the  sanc- 
tuary which  they  would  have  rejoiced  to  see.  But  their 
best  memorial  is  in  the  work  which  survives  them,  in 
the  affection  which  cherishes  them,  in  the  glory  which 
encircles  them.  At  the  installation  of  Mr.  Albro,  this 
hymn,  written  by  Dr.  Holmes,  was  sung,  to  be  repeated 
at  the  subsequent  installation,  and  again  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  new  church  in  1872  :  — 

"  Great  God  !  thou  heard'st  our  fathers'  prayer, 
When,  o'er  the  ocean  brought, 
They,  with  a  patriarchal  care, 
A  sanctuary  sought. 


216  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

"  Hither  thy  guidance  led  their  feet,  — 
Here  was  their  first  abode  : 
And  here,  where  now  their  children  meet, 
They  found  a  place  for  God. 

"Thy  flock,  Immanuel,  here  was  fed, 
In  pastures  green  and  fair, 
Beside  still  waters  gently  led, 
And  thine  the  shepherd's  care. 

"  That  care  two  hundred  years  attest ; 
Thy  seal  is  still  the  same  : 
To  every  bosom  be  it  pressed, 
Graved  with  thy  precious  name. 

"  Here  may  the  church  thy  cause  maintain, 
Thy  truth  with  peace  and  love, 
Till  her  last  earth-born  live  again 
With  the  first-born  above. 

"  0  glorious  change  !     From  conflict  free, 
The  church,  —  no  danger  nigh, 
From  militant  on  earth,  shall  be 
Triumphant  in  the  sky." 


LECTURE    VIII. 

"  He  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed, 
shall  doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves 
with  him."  —  Psalm  cxxvi.  6. 

IT  is  not  the  going  forth  and  weeping  which  insure 
the  return  with  rejoicing.  For  this  consummation 
of  the  sorrow  and  toil  it  is  essential  that  he  who  goes 
out  shall  carry  precious  seed.  If  the  seed  has  in  it  a 
vitality  which  cannot  he  destroyed,  and  a  worth  which 
will  reward  any  pains  and  waiting,  then  the  rejoicing 
shall  come.  Those  who  have  the  tears  may  pass  away 
before  the  full  harvest  gladdens  their  eyes  ;  but  the  har- 
vest shall  come,  and  if  one  sow  and  another  reap,  the 
sower  and  the  reaper  shall  rejoice  together.  There  is  a 
glorious  fellowship  in  all  good  work.  In  pursuing  the 
history  of  this  ancient  church,  we  have  come  to  the 
time  of  the  going  forth  and  weeping.  Those  who  were 
banished  from  the  sanctuary  which  had  been  their 
home  took  with  them  precious  seed.  They  kept  the 
faith ;  they  retained  the  promises.  Cast  down,  they 
were  not  destroyed.  With  hope  and  courage  they 
made  a  new  field  ready  for  seed  and  harvest.  The 
rejoicing  began  before  they  entered  on  their  rest,  and 
in  the  midst  of  plenty  we  mention  their  names  with 
gratitude  and  with  thanksgiving  to  him  who  prospered 
them,  and  who  withheld  from  them  the  fulness  of  the 
promise,  "  God  having  provided  some  better  thing  for 
us,  that  they  without  us  should  not  be  made  perfect." 


218  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

The  ministry  of  Dr.  Holmes  and  that  of  his  successor 
were  for  a  time  united.  The  advanced  years  of  the  old 
pastor,  and  his  peculiar  relation  to  the  First  Parish, 
made  it  expedient  that  he  should  have  an  associate  in 
his  work.  Accordingly,  as  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Nehe- 
miah  Adams,  Jr.,  was  invited  to  become  his  colleague. 
The  church  records  contain  an  account  of  a  meeting  of 
the  church  held  on  the  20th  of  November,  1829,  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Jacob  Bates.  After  prayer  and  consulta- 
tion the  church  came  to  the  decision  which  is  set  forth 
in  the  votes  which  follow :  "  Whereas  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Holmes,  the  pastor  of  this  church,  has  been  excluded 
by  a  committee  of  the  First  Parish  in  Cambridge  from 
the  desk  and  the  sanctuary  where  he  has  so  long 
officiated,  under  a  pretence  that  he  is  legally  dismissed 
from  office  ;  and  whereas  a  great  majority  of  the 
church,  retaining  their  affection  for  him  and  confidence 
in  him,  have  withdrawn,  and  attended  public  worship 
under  his  ministrations  in  another  place  ;  whereas  the 
said  committee  of  the  First  Parish  have  also  manifested 
a  disposition  to  deprive  us  as  a  church  of  our  just  and 
immemorial  rights,  and  there  is  now  no  prospect  that 
the  gospel  as  it  appears  to  us  revealed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  as  it  was  embraced  by  our  fathers  from  the 
first  planting  of  this  church,  will  at  present  be  preached 
in  the  house  over  which  the  First  Parish  have  legal 
control ;  whereas  it  is  in  our  view  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance that  this  gospel  should  be  maintained  within  the 
boundaries  of  this  parish,  and  a  society  by  the  name 
of  the  Shepard  Congregational  Society  has  been  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  supporting  the  gospel  here  in  its 
purity,  with  which  society  we  as  a  church  are  respect- 
fully invited  to  unite  and  co-operate  according  to  the 


LECTURE   VIII.  219 

rights  and  usages  of  congregational  churches ;  whereas 
our  venerable  pastor,  holding  as  he  does  and  must  that 
he  is  not  legally  dismissed  from  office  in  the  First 
Parish,  cannot  now  consistently  attach  himself  to  the 
new  society  and  become  in  form  its  minister,  but 
another  person  has  of  late  been  employed  with  a  view 
to  settlement  in  the  ministry,  —  in  consideration  of  all 
the  circumstances,  and  having  consulted  with  the  Eev. 
Dr.  Holmes,  our  pastor,  whose  relation  to  us  as  a  church 
we  wish  to  hold  sacred  and  inviolate,  and  finding  that 
in  present  circumstances  the  choice  of  a  colleague 
pastor  meets  with  his  entire  approbation :  therefore, 
voted,  1st,  that  until  such  time  as  our  rights,  with 
those  of  our  pastor,  shall  be  respected,  and  the  privileges 
of  the  gospel  ministry  be  enjoyed,  as  heretofore,  in  con- 
nection with  the  First  Parish  in  Cambridge,  we  will,  as 
a  church,  accede  to  the  invitation  of  the  said  Shepard 
Congregational  Society,  and  co-operate  with  it  in  main- 
taining the  worship  and  ordinances  of  the  gospel, 
according  to  the  established  principles  and  usages  of 
Congregational  churches  in  this  Commonwealth.  Voted, 
2d,  that  in  pursuance  of  the  object,  and  subject  to  the 
several  conditions  expressed  in  the  first  vote,  the  church 
now  unite,  and  call  Mr.  Nehemiah  Adams,  Jr.,  —  who 
has  been  heard  by  us  for  several  Sabbaths  with  high 
approbation,  and  in  whom  we  have  full  confidence,  — 
to  the  office  of  colleague  pastor  in  this  church  in  con- 
nection with  the  Eev.  Dr.  Holmes  as  senior  pastor."  It 
was  further  voted  to  communicate  this  decision  to  the 
Shepard  Society  and  desire  its  concurrence,  and  also  to 
inform  Mr.  Adams  of  the  wish  of  the  church  and 
society,  and,  if  he  should  accept  the  invitation,  to  take 
the  necessary  steps  for  his  ordination.      The  committee 


220  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE, 

consisted  of  Deacons  Hilliard  and  Munro  and  Mr. 
Bichard  H.  Dana.  The  salary  offered  to  the  pastor 
elect  was  eight  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the  first 
year,  to  be  increased  fifty  dollars  a  year  until  the 
amount  of  one  thousand  dollars  was  reached.  I  am  in- 
formed, however,  that  by  private  subscription  the  salary 
was  at  once  established  at  the  maximum  sum  named. 

The  invitation  was  accepted  by  Mr.  Adams,  and  a 
council  for  his  ordination  met  in  the  vestry  of  the  Bap- 
tist church  in  Cambridgeport,  which  had  been  kindly 
offered  for  the  services,  on  the  17th  of  December,  1829. 
Twenty-three  churches  were  represented.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  read  over  the  names  of  the  ministers  and 
delegates.  Bev.  John  Codman,  D.D.,  of  Dorchester,  was 
moderator,  Bev.  David  Perry  of  Cambridgeport,  scribe, 
and  Bev.  Lyman  Gilbert  of  Newton,  assistant  scribe. 
Other  members  were  Bev.  William  Jenks,  D.D.,  from 
the  Green  Street  Church,  Boston  ;  Bev.  Lyman  Beecher, 
D.D.,  from  the  Hanover  Street  Church ;  Bev.  Benjamin 
B.  Wisner,  D.D.,  and  Mr.  Samuel  H.  Walley,  from  the 
Old  South  Church ;  Bev.  Edward  Beecher  and  Bev. 
Louis  Dwight  from  Park  Street  Church ;  Professor 
Moses  Stuart  and  Mr.  Calvin  E.  Stowe  from  the  church 
at  the  Theological  Seminary  in  Andover ;  Bev.  Ebenezer 
Bumess  from  Dedham  ;  Bev.  Samuel  Stearns  and  Mr. 
Samuel  H.  Stearns  from  Bedford ;  Bev.  Jonathan  Homer, 
D.D.,  from  Newton ;  Mr.  Samuel  M.  E.  Kettle,  after- 
wards Bev.  William  M.  Bogers,  with  Dr.  Codman,  from 
Dorchester  ;  Bev.  John  P.  Cleaveland  and  Deacon  Nehe- 
miah  Adams  from  the  Tabernacle  Church  in  Salem  ;  Bev. 
George  W.  Blagden  from  Brighton.  The  action  of  the 
previous  advisory  council  was  submitted  by  the  church ; 
and  a  remonstrance  presented  to  the  pastor  elect  by  a 


LECTURE   VIII.  221 

committee  of  those  members  of  the  church  who  had  ad- 
hered to  the  First  Parish  was  read.    After  the  customary 
examination   in    doctrine   and   character,   the   council 
voted  to  proceed  with  the  ordination,  which  was  per- 
formed in  the  Baptist  Church.     Eev.  Mr.  Cleaveland  of- 
fered the  introductory  prayer,  Professor  Stuart  preached 
the  sermon,  Dr.  Jenks  offered  the  ordaining  prayer,  Dr. 
Holmes  gave  the  charge  to  the  pastor,  Mr.  Beecher  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship,  Dr.  Burgess  the  address  to  the 
people,  and  Mr.  Stearns  offered  the  concluding  prayer. 
On  the  3d  of  January  following,  the  committee   for 
the  settlement  of  the  new  pastor  was  instructed  "  to 
make  the  application  contemplated  in  the  resolutions 
of  the  council  in  answer  to  an  address  presented  to 
them  by  the  church  and  Shepard  Society  in  Cambridge, 
and  also  for  aid  from  any  other  sources  which  they  may 
deem  expedient."     After  the  heavy  pecuniary  losses  of 
the  church  in  its  separation  from  the  parish,  it  was 
necessary  to  make  an  appeal  for  aid,  and  to  this  there 
was  such  response  as  enabled  the  church  to  sustain 
the  Divine  ordinances  and  pursue  its  Christian  work. 
It  was  another  beginning,  and  with  some  difficulties  of 
which  our  predecessors  of  1636  had  little  knowledge 
after  they  had  once  reached  these  western  shores. 

The  sermons  of  Dr.  Holmes  at  this  period  give  an 
insight  into  the  state  and  feeling  of  the  people.  There 
is  a  manuscript  marked  "June  7,  1829:  in  meeting- 
house." There  is  another  dated  a  week  later,  "  June 
14,  1829 :  A.M.,  Camb.  Courthouse."  The  text  of  the 
former  is  in  St.  John's  words :  "  I  have  no  greater  joy 
than  to  hear  that  my  children  walk  in  truth."  The 
text  of  the  latter  is  in  St.  Peter's  words,  "  Beloved, 
think  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery  trial  which  is 


222  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

to  try  you,  as  though  some  strange  thing  happened  unto 
you;  but  rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers  of 
Christ's  sufferings ;  that,  when  his  glory  shall  be  re- 
vealed, ye  may  be  glad  also  with  exceeding  joy."  With 
that  spirit  the  church  took  up  its  work  anew.  Two 
hundred  years  had  wrought  no  change.  There  is  a  ser- 
mon marked  "Dec.  20,  1829,  A.M.,  1st  Sabbath  after 
ordination  of  Mr.  K  Adams."  The  text  is,  "Now  if 
Timotheus  come,  see  that  he  may  be  with  you  without 
fear ;  for  he  worketh  the  work  of  the  Lord,  as  I  also 
do."  Towards  the  close  the  venerated  pastor  says, 
"  The  Lord  this  day  gives  you  an  ascension  gift,  a 
pastor  who  is  of  the  same  religious  principles  which 
we  unitedly  believe  to  be  according  to  the  gospel,  and 
which  we  are  solicitous  to  maintain  for  ourselves  and 
to  transmit  to  our  descendants  ;  a  pastor  who  has  wit- 
nessed a  good  confession  before  many  witnesses,  and 
whom  we  cordially  commend  to  you,  in  the  belief  that 
he  comes  to  you  in  the  fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ.  Eeceive  him.  Treat  him  with  candor 
and  equity  ;  preserve  unity  and  peace  ;  and  pay  an  at- 
tentive and  serious  regard  to  his  ministry." 

Thus,  with  the  commendation  and  blessing  of  the 
aged  pastor,  his  young  associate  entered  upon  his  work. 
The  services  of  the  Sabbath  were  divided  between  the 
two  pastors.  The  senior  preached  in  the  morning  and 
the  junior  in  the  afternoon  and  evening.  The  services 
were  well  attended,  especially  in  the  evening,  when 
persons  not  connected  with  the  new  society  would  come 
to  hear  preaching  in  a  place  devoted  to  other  uses. 
The  labors  of  the  ministers  were  greatly  blessed,  for  the 
years  1830,  1831,  and  1832  show  large  additions  to  the 
church  upon  confession  of  faith.     The  loss  of  members 


LECTURE    VIII.  223 

was  soon  more  than  made  good.  Plainly,  the  Lord  had 
a  favor  unto  this  band  of  disciples  who  had  suffered 
much  for  his  name.  The  services  on  the  Sabbath  were 
held  in  the  Court  House  for  nearly  two  years.  When 
there  were  lectures  there  in  the  evening  the  people 
carried  their  own  lamps,  sometimes  giving  occasion  to 
the  by-standers  whom  they  passed  to  throw  out  jests  at 
their  expense.  Meetings  for  prayer  were  for  a  time 
held  in  private  houses,  and  were  finally  established  in 
the  house  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Mount  Auburn  and 
Brighton  Streets,  in  a  large  room  fitted  up  for  that  pur- 
pose. As  soon  as  the  church  and  society  were  able, 
with  the  assistance  of  friends,  to  erect  a  meeting-house, 
this  house  was  built.  The  ground  was  broken  on  the 
5th  of  August,  1830,  with  religious  services ;  the  cor- 
ner-stone was  laid  on  the  21st  of  the  following 
month  ;  and  on  the  23d  of  February,  1831,  the  house 
was  dedicated  with  a  sermon  by  the  senior  pastor 
from  Jeremiah  vi.  18.  I  have  spoken  of  some  of  these 
things  before,  but  it  has  seemed  proper  to  repeat  them 
in  this  connection.  This  new  house  was  greatly  ad- 
mired. Mr.  Washington  Allston  furnished  the  plan, 
and  the  house  was  an  object  of  especial  pride  to  him. 
He  liked  to  take  strangers  at  evening  to  a  particular 
spot,  about  a  hundred  rods  southeast  of  the  building, 
where  he  would  repeat  the  familiar  lines  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  — 

"  If  thou  wouldst  view  fair  Melrose  aright, 
Go  visit  it  by  the  pale  moonlight," 

and  bid  his  companions  mark  the  simple  beauty  of  this 
unassuming  structure.  The  first  sermon  after  the  dedi- 
cation was  by  the  senior  pastor,  from  the  words,  "  The 
Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple,"  and  this  was  followed  by 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 


224  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

In  September,  1831,  the  increased  feebleness  of  the 
senior  pastor  made  it  necessary  that  he  should  be  re- 
leased from  the  duties  of  the  pastoral  office.  The 
church  acceded  to  his  request  for  dismission,  and  this 
action  was  duly  ratified  by  an  ecclesiastical  council. 
Thus  ended  the  official  labors  of  a  ministry  of  forty 
years.  This  is  his  farewell  sermon.  The  text  is,  "  For 
now  we  live,  if  ye  stand  fast  in  the  Lord."  A  portion 
of  this  sermon  I  have  repeated  in  a  previous  lecture. 

For  nearly  three  years  after  the  resignation  of  Dr. 
Holmes,  Mr.  Adams  remained  the  pastor  of  the  church. 
But  in  February,  1834,  he  received  an  invitation  to  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  Essex  Street  Church  and  Society  in 
Boston.  He  deemed  it  his  duty  to  accept  this  call. 
With  great  reluctance  the  church  complied  with  his 
request  for  dismission ;  and  a  council  on  the  14th  of 
March  approved  the  action,  and  he  entered  into  the  pas- 
toral connection  which,  after  thirty-eight  years,  he  still 
retains.  This  is  the  only  instance,  in  the  long  history 
of  this  church,  in  which  a  minister  has  left  it  to 
assume  the  care  of  another  church.  Mr.  Adams's  pas- 
torate was  four  years  and  three  months  in  duration. 
But  it  was  a  critical  time  in  the  life  of  the  church, 
when  a  year  was  in  importance  of  more  than  its  wonted 
length.  In  labors  he  was  abundant  and  abundantly 
successful.  It  is  too  early  to  make  a  summing  up  of 
his  ministerial  work.  May  it  be  long  before  that  can 
be  done,  very  long  before  his  name  can  be  inscribed 
upon  the  monument  and  tablet  whereon  the  church 
will  hand  down  his  name  and  his  ministry  here  to  the 
generations  to  come  !  In  the  fulness  of  his  years,  the 
richness  of  his  life,  the  mellowness  of  his  character,  the 
wisdom  and  piety  and  purity  of  his  spirit,  his  presence 


Meetin-o-House  erected  in  1830-31. 


LECTURE   VIII.  225 

is  a  blessing  in  the  end  as  in  the  beginning,  and  a  yet 
greater  benediction. 

For  thirteen  months  the  church  had  no  pastor.  Dr. 
Holmes  was  still  living,  and  was  a  father  to  his  people. 
His  counsel  was  freely  given  to  the  young,  his  sym- 
pathy to  the  old,  his  comfort  to  the  sorrowing.  The 
church  could  not  be  desolate  so  long  as  his  voice  could 
be  heard  from  the  pulpit,  and  the  familiar  way  to  his 
door  opened  before  the  people.  "  My  beloved  brethren," 
he  said  in  None  of  his  sermons,  "  my  dear  children,  for 
such  you  will  allow  me  to  call  you."  But  it  was  need- 
ful that  the  church  should  have  another  minister.  In 
August,  183-4,  a  call  was  extended  to  Mr.  Oliver  E. 
Daggett,  now  of  New  London,  but  he  felt  compelled,  for 
personal  reasons,  to  decline  the  invitation.  After  a 
time  there  came  a  stranger  into  the  pulpit.  He  preached 
but  a  single  Sabbath,  when  he  was  unanimously  invited 
to  the  pastorate.  It  was  believed  that  he  was  "  pecu- 
liarly qualified  for  the  ministry  in  this  place,"  and  there 
was  "  a  general  and  ardent  desire  of  his  ministrations." 
He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  on  the  loth  of  April, 
1835,  he  was  installed.  Twenty-five  years  afterwards 
he  said,  "  I  was  received  with  a  unanimity,  affection, 
and  cordiality  which  in  the  flight  of  years  and  the 
changes  of  the  world  have  remained,  I  hope,  as  strong 
as  at  the  beginning.  I  came  to  you,  as  Paul  went  to 
the  Corinthians,  in  weakness,  and  in  fear,  and  in  much 
trembling,  and  you  encouraged  me  by  your  sympathy, 
and  bore   up   my  heart   by   your   affection   and  your 

prayers I  came  to  you,   as  the  disciples  were 

sent  upon  their  first  mission,  without  purse  or  scrip, 
and,  like  them,  I  can  tell  the  Master  to-day  that  in  all 
these  years  you  have  permitted  me  to  lack  nothing." 

15 


226  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

The  mention  of  the  name  of  the  Eev.  John  Adams 
Albro  reminds  ns  that  we  have  come  into  the  present 
time.  So  much  lias  been  publicly  said  by  different 
persons  regarding  the  tenth  minister  of  this  church, 
and  his  long  service  here,  that  I  can  do  little  more  than 
repeat  what  is  already  in  print.  But  a  good  man's  life 
is  a  perennial  source  of  benefaction,  and  it  will  be  both 
pleasant  and  instructive  to  recall  the  character  and 
work  of  one  whose  name  and  influence  abide  anions  us. 
It  is  by  describing  the  man  and  his  work  that  the  his- 
tory of  the  church  during  this  period  is  best  made 
known.     For  the  life  of  the  parish  centred  in  him. 

Mr.  Albro  was  born  in  Newport,  B,  I.,  August  13, 
1799.  By  the  death  of  his  father  he  was  early  left  to 
the  care  of  a  Christian  mother.  His  mother  married 
again,  and  the  son  afterwards  found  a  home  with  his 
grandmother.  It  was  necessary  that  he  should  main- 
tain himself,  and,  possessing  the  fine  talent  which 
proved  of  so  great  advantage  to  him  in  his  future  work, 
he  prepared  himself  to  be  a  teacher  of  music.  But  at 
about  the  age  of  eighteen  he  entered  the  Law  School 
at  Litchfield,  Conn.,  to  fit  himself  for  the  legal  profes- 
sion. In  1821  he  finished  his  legal  studies,  and  with 
flattering  prospects  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  Mansfield,  Conn.  He  had  not  enrolled 
himself  as  a  disciple  of  Christ,  but  he  felt  the  power 
of  the  truth,  and  gave  serious  thought  to  his  immortal 
interests.  At  length,  in  deep  humility  and  contrition, 
and  apprehending  the  mercy  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  he 
believed  in  his  heart  on  the  divine  Saviour,  and  made 
confession  of  him  with  his  mouth.  He  united  with 
the  First  Church  in  Mansfield  on  the  Gth  of  July,  1823. 
This  change  in  himself  and  in  his  relations  to  God  and 


LECTURE    VIII.  227 

to  the  world  created  a  desire  to  become  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  in  which  he  had  found  light  and  life.  After 
spending  some  two  years  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  he 
entered  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover.  He  had 
not  received  a  collegiate  training,  but  he  had  studied 
with  fidelity,  so  that  he  took  good  rank  with  his  as- 
sociates in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  while  he  had  also 
mastered  the  French  and  German  languages.  He  is 
described  as  at  that  time  "  a  bright,  genial  man  ;  win- 
ning, not  to  say  fascinating,  in  his  manner  and  conver- 
sation, fond  of  poetry,  reading  Shakespeare  finely  and 
with  much  interest,  perhaps  more  devoted  then  to  gen- 
eral studies  than  to  theology,  and  •specially  enjoying 
and  excelling  in  music."  His  scholarship  was  held  in 
so  high  esteem  by  his  companions  in  study,  that  some 
of  them  obtained  for  him  from  Yale  College  the  hon- 
orary degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

He  graduated  in  1827,  and  on  the  27th  of  November 
in  that  year  he  was  ordained  at  Middlesex  Village  in 
Chelmsford,  Mass.  That  was  in  the  troublous  times, 
the  very  year  in  which  the  first  steps  were  taken  which 
led  to  the  separation  of  our  own  church  from  the  old 
parish.  The  young  pastor  was  expected  to  pursue  the 
same  general  system  of  exchanges  which  was  demanded 
here,  and,  like  Dr.  Holmes,  he  said  that  he  could  not 
do  it.  There  came  a  division,  but  all  the  members  of 
the  church,  except  two,  sustained  the  pastor,  and  with 
him  and  a  few  of  the  society  withdrew  from  the  parish, 
and  began  religious  services  in  a  hall.  It  seems  like 
reading  the  story  of  our  own  church  over  again.  About 
two  years  after  this  division  Mr.  Albro  was  invited  to 
the  pastoral  office  by  the  Calvin istic  Congregational 
Church  in  Fitchburs.     He  was  installed  there  on  the 


228  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

9th  of  May,  1832.  But  the  church  was  in  a  disturbed 
state  on  account  of  an  old  controversy  which  he  had 
supposed  to  be  ended,  and  the  new  relation  was  in  many 
respects  trying  and  difficult.  Accordingly,  after  a  min- 
istry there  of  two  years  and  a  half,  he  retired  from  the 
position.  He  had  made  many  friends,  had  exerted  a 
lasting  influence,  and  his  words  and  spirit  were  long 
treasured  up.  His  services  were  sought  by  several 
churches.  A  hearty  invitation  was  extended  to  him  to 
enter  the  place  made  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Mr. 
Adams,  and  on  the  15th  of  April,  1835,  he  became  the 
pastor  of  this  church  and  society.  This  was  the  real 
beginning  of  his  work,  for  it  was  the  entrance  on  a' 
pastorate  of  thirty  years.  We  are  now  to  review  his 
ministry,  within  a  single  day  of  the  anniversary  of  its 
beginning.  It  was  a  good  ministry,  such  as  one  might 
well  choose  for  himself ;  a  time  of  regular,  quiet,  suc- 
cessful work,  faithfully  performed,  and  with  large  and 
permanent  results.  Yet  they  were  not  stirring  years 
in  our  church  history.  Few  large  events  come  to  the 
surface  as  we  examine  them.  They  were  years  of 
steady,  honest  work.  If  they  are  not  the  best  for  the 
historian,  they  were  the  best  for  the  minister  and  the 
people. 

The  population  of  the  town  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
Albro's  settlement  was  about  six  thousand.  The 
church,  although  greatly  enlarged,  was  still  small  in 
numbers,  and  of  very  limited  pecuniary  ability.  The 
prevailing  social  spirit  of  the  community  was  not 
friendly  to  the  church  or  its  teaching.  Yet  the  place 
had  its  own  attractions.  Here  was  Harvard  College, 
whose  library  was  open  to  the  minister  whose  scholarly 
habits  fitted  him  to  enjoy  it.      And  there  were  many 


LECTURE   VIII.  229 

persons  of  culture  with  whom  he  could  find  companion- 
ship and  sympathy.  The  long  history  of  the  church 
from  the  days  of  Shepard  was  enough  to  inspire  the 
heart  of  a  man  who  admired  the  Puritan  character  and 
rejoiced  in  its  works.  He  proved  himself  of  the  true 
lineage  when  he  made  haste  to  spend  his  first  Sabbath 
in  England  at  Towcester,  the  birthplace  of  Thomas 
Shepard,  where  his  feeling  was  far  deeper  than  at  Strat- 
ford-on-Avon. 

Thus,  in  the  thirty-sixth  year  of  his  age,  this  pastor 
began  his  work.  It  was  the  regular  work  of  preaching 
the  gospel  and  administering  its  holy  offices.  The 
chief  event  which  broke  the  even  tenor  of  the  years  was 
the  visit  of  the  pastor  to  Europe  in  1852,  when  he  was 
absent  for  six  months,  through  the  liberality  of  his 
people.  The  facilities  for  a  foreign  tour  were  not  as 
great  twenty  years  ago  as  they  are  now.  But  this 
traveller  went  with  taste  and  learning  which  prepared 
him  to  appreciate  all  that  he  saw,  and,  as  he  passed- 
from  country  to  country,  to  store  his  mind  with  treas- 
ures which  he  could  bring  home.  His  whole  life  was 
enriched  by  the  rest  which  comes  with  a  sojourn  among 
the  scenes  of  a  strange  land,  and  his  people  found  bread 
coming  back  upon  the  waters  where  they  had  cast  the 
seed. 

One  other  event  of  large  significance  was  the  cele- 
bration of  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  his  installa- 
tion. The  origin  of  the  commemoration  was  in  the 
desire  of  the  church  and  society  to  mark  a  point  in 
their  history  which  is  seldom  reached,  but  which  had 
now  been  most  happily  attained.  From  the  published 
account  of  the  doings  on  that  occasion  we  are  able  in 
some  measure  to  reproduce  it,  and  to  gain  from  it  some 


230  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

idea  of  the  results  of  the  long  work.  On  Sunday,  the 
true  anniversary  day,  the  pastor  preached  an  appro- 
priate discourse,  in  which  he  brought  together  the  past 
and  the  present,  and  sought  to  enforce  the  lessons 
which  the  day  should  teach.  On  the  following  Wednes- 
day evening  a  public  commemorative  service  was 
held  in  this  church.  The  present  senior  deacon  of  the 
church  made  the  opening  address  of  welcome,  and  in- 
troduced the  services  of  the  evening.  After  religious 
exercises,  addresses  were  made  by  several  representative 
gentlemen,  and  each  said  that  which  it  became  him  to 
say.  Mr.  Zelotes  Hosmer,  who  had  long  resided  here, 
and  who  rendered  inestimable  service  to  the  church, 
who  has  now  rejoined  in  another  world  the  pastor  of 
whom  he  spoke,  said,  "  Let  us  be  thankful  that  for  hve- 
and-twenty  years  we  have  enjoyed  the  faithful  preach- 
ing of  God's  word  from  a  faithful  teacher,  and  trust 
that  here  may  be  his  place  of  rest ;  and  I  am  sure  you 
"will  all  join  with  me  in  the  expression  of  the  hope  that 
his  ministry  may  be  long  continued."  The  Eoyal  Pro- 
fessor of  Law  spoke  in  behalf  of  the  Shepard  society, 
and  claimed  that  the  early  legal  training  of  this  min- 
ister in  some  degree  accounted  for  the  truthfulness 
of  his  reasoning  in  the  pulpit,  and  testified,  after  a 
hearing  of  more  than  twelve  years,  "  I  have  never 
known  him  to  confuse  the  minds  of  his  auditors  by  the 
enunciation  of  an  unsound  legal  principle,  nor  mislead 
them  by  a  specious  but  erroneous  legal  argument." 
President  Felton  represented  the  University  and  him- 
self also,  and  with  an  earnestness  and  radiance  which 
those  who  knew  him  can  even  now  find  in  his  words, 
said  out  of  his  imperial  soul,  "  I  join  as  heartily  in  all 
the  honors  you  are  paying  your  excellent  pastor  as  if  I 


LECTURE   VIII.  231 

were  a  member  of  the  society Your  pastor  and 

myself  have  been  on  the  most  cordial  terms  for  the 
quarter  of  a  century  that  he  has  been  settled  over  you. 
....  I  trust  his  days  may  be  prolonged  in  the  land." 
His  honored  and  beloved  predecessor  spoke  as  only  he 
can  speak,  and  with  a  rare  appreciation  of  the  feelings 
of  the  "  solitary  man  "  upon  whom  kind  words  were  ' 
lavished.  He  added  his  generous  tribute  to  the  rest, 
and  said  of  his  old  friend,  "  He  has  both  knowledge  and 
wisdom.  He  is  a  full  man.  He  reminds  me  of  a  place 
in  Italy  where,  if  you  dig  a  few  inches  and  apply  a 
torch,  a  flame  springs  up.  I  feel  toward  him  as  one 
seems  to  have  done  toward  a  public  building  which  he 
stood  to  view,  leaning  his  head  upon  his  hand,  and 
soliloquizing  every  now  and  then,  with  much  variety  of 
intonation  and  emphasis,  as  he  judges  of  its  architecture, 
'  It  is  right !  it  is  right !'....  And  now,  my  dear  sir 
and  brother,  in  the  name  of  all  the  Congregational  min- 
isters everywhere  who  either  know  of  this  occasion  or 
shall  be  made  acquainted  with  it,  I  feel  empowered 
to  say,  The  brethren  which  are  with  me  greet  you." 
His  old  neighbor,  who  had  become  the  President  of  Am- 
herst College,  wrote  of  the  commemoration  in  a  letter 
which  was  read,  "  If  ministerial  fidelity,  unpretending 
piety,  ability  in  preaching,  wisdom  in  affairs,  large- 
ness of  heart,  and  persistent  devotion  to  his  people, 
entitle  a  man  to  such  a  notice,  it  is  certainly  deserved 
in  the  present  case."  The  Rev.  Dr.  Newell  of  the  First 
Parish,  in  a  letter  written  after  the  celebration,  expressed 
his  "respect  for  your  able  and  faithful  pastor,  with 
whom,  during  the  whole  period  of  his  ministry,  my  per- 
sonal relations,  notwithstanding  our  theological  differ- 
ences,  have  always  been  pleasant  and  friendly."    He  was 


232  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

sorry  not  to  have  had  the  opportunity  of  manifesting 
by  his  presence  "  the  kindly  feeling  which,"  he  says,  "  I 
hope  will  always  subsist,  not  only  between  your  pastor 
and  myself,  but  also  between  the  societies  with  which 
we  are  connected,  —  branches  as  they  are  of  the  same 
old  stock,  descended  from  the  same  old  congregational 
family,  looking  back,  amidst  their  honest  differences  of 
opinion,  with  common  pride  to  a  common  ancestry." 
And  what  said  the  pastor  for  himself  ?  "  Certainly  it 
has  never  been  my  desire  or  my  object  to  be  rewarded 
by  a  demonstration  like  this.  And  now  that  I  see  this 
gathering  of  my  people  and  my  friends  to  do  me  honor, 
I  hardly  know  what  to  say.  I  sincerely  thank  the 
church  and  society  for  what  they  have  done.  I  thank 
the  brethren  and  gentlemen  for  the  kindness  with 
which  they  have  spoken  of  me  and  of  my  labors.  It  is 
a  comfort  for  me  now  to  know  that  there  has  been  such 
unanimity  of  opinion  and  feeling  with  regard  to  my 
work  among  those  whom  I  so  highly  respect,  that  I 
have  lived  in  so  much  harmony  with  my  neighbors  of 
different  persuasions,  that  I  can  look  over  the  past 
and  see  no  deep  root  of  bitterness  in  the  field  that  I 
have  endeavored  to  cultivate,  and  that  there  is  no 
dark  shadow  lying  between  the  beginning  of  my 
ministry  here  and  this  clay."  The  occasion  was  im- 
proved by  gifts  bestowed  upon  the  pastor,  and  when 
he  had  returned  to  his  home  he  found  substantial 
tokens  of  the  grateful  affection  of  his  people,  which  he 
acknowledged  in  a  pleasant  note.  He  wrote  :  "  So 
quietly  and  secretly  were  these  gifts  conveyed  to  my 
residence,  that  I  should  have  been  surprised  if  I  had 
not  long  since  learned  not  to  feel  surprise  at  any  kind 
or  generous  act  of  my  people." 


LECTURE   YIII.  233 

/■ 

While  all  this  was  said  and  done,  the  pastor  kept  his 
anniversary  with  deep  humility,  with  sincere  gratitude, 
and  with  the  conviction  that  the  years  of  his  ministry 
had  not  been  spent  in  vain.  He  said  truly,  in  his  sermon, 
that  the  recapitulation  of  the  number  of  services  which 
he  had  performed  would  exhibit  neither  the  significance 
nor  the  value  of  his  ministry.  He  believed  that  causes 
which  attract  little  notice  may  yet  "  send  their  roots 
into  eternity,  and  bear  fruit  which  can  be  gathered  only 
in  another  world."  Oppressed  with  a  sense  of  his  own 
infirmity,  he  knew  that  good  had  resulted  from  his 
efforts,  and  he  gave  the  glory  to  Him  unto  whom  all 
praise  is  due.  It  was  something  to  remember  that  the 
meeting-house  had  been  three  times  enlarged  to  keep 
pace  with  the  necessities  of  the  people,  and  that  it  was 
better  filled  after  the  lapse  of  twenty-five  years  than 
at  the  beginning.  It  was  cause  for  thankfulness  that 
nearly  four  hundred  members,  over  one  half  of  them 
by  confession  of  faith,  had  been  added  to  the  church. 
These  were  the  outward  and  happy  signs  of  larger  and 
eternal  benefits. 

The  underlying  principles  of  this  pastor's  character 
were  well  defined,  and  the  structure  of  a  life  was  built 
upon  them  with  patience  and  decision.  He  knew  what 
he  meant  to  do,  and  how  he  meant  to  do  it.  Of  the 
estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  own  people  and 
by  his  neighbors  we  have  already  had  a  generous  ex- 
pression. His  life  was  a  wide  one.  It  might  well  be 
wide  when  the  foundation  was  deep.  During  his  long 
ministry  his  influence  was  manifold.  There  are  many 
who  can  never  forget  the  sacred  hours  spent  with  him 
in  the  study  of  the  Greek  Testament  during  their  col- 
lege course.     AVe  went  once  a  week  to  his  study,  and 


234  FIRST  CHURCH  IN   CAMBRIDGE. 

bowed  with  him  in  prayer,  then  sat  about  his  round 
table,  while,  with  his  well-worn  Testament  before  him, 
and  his  ivory  paper-knife  in  his  hand,  he  opened  to  us 
the  Scriptures.  He  would  have  us  read  a  verse,  would 
ask  some  question  upon  it,  and  then  would  expound  it 
in  his  own  inimitable  way,  with  learning  and  piety  and 
rare  facility  of  illustration.  We  questioned  him  more 
than  he  questioned  us.  The  exercise  was  almost  an 
expository  lecture.  One  who  belonged  to  his  class  has 
said  :  "  His  principles  of  interpretation  were  the  sound- 
est ;  and  after  studying  the  New  Testament  subse- 
quently with  Professor  Stuart,  I  could  hardly  ascribe, 
even  to  that  master  of  Biblical  interpretation,  any 
superiority,  as  a  teacher,  to  the  Cambridge  pastor." 
Another  has  written :  "  Many  theologians  refer  to  the 
principles  of  interpretation  which  he  gave  them  as  lay- 
ing the  foundation  of  their  interest  and  success  in 
Biblical  studies."  It  was  a  fiappy  circumstance,  that, 
when  he  lay  a  dying,  one  of  the  physicians  who  attended 
upon  him  should  be  recognized  as  formerly  a  "member 
of  his  Bible  Class.  The  results  of  such  instruction  as 
he  gave  to  an  ever-changing  company  of  those  who 
were  themselves  to  be  teachers  cannot  be  measured. 
In  this  we  have  one  other  method  of  his  usefulness. 

His  labors  were  not  restricted  to  his  own  parish. 
He  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  city  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  School  Committee.  When  the  Cambridge 
Cemetery  was  to  he  consecrated,  he  was  selected  to 
make  the  address.  His  address  was  marked  by  great 
appropriateness,  by  rare  beauty  of  language,  and  by 
richness  and  fidelity  of  thought.  In  his  more  strictly 
professional  work  he  was  greatly  esteemed.  At  all 
gatherings  of  the  clergy  his  judgment   carried  great 


LECTURE   V1I1.  235 

weight,  and  when  upon  Councils  his  advice  was  much 
relied  upon.  The  words  of  Dr.  Adams  express  the 
general  feeling  :  "  As  a  personal  friend  and  witness,  I 
must  be  allowed  to  say  of  him  that  he  is  a  tower  of 
strength  in  our  ministerial  associations  and  eccle- 
siastical affairs.  We  depend  upon  him  for  counsel ;  we 
listen  to  his  large  and  well-considered  experience ;  we 
feel  safe  to  be  guided  by  him ;  we  always  look  that 
he  will  be  on  the  side  of  sound  principles  and  well- 
established  order  ;  and  we  are  not  disappointed." 

His  published  works  are  not  numerous,  but  they  are 
of  value.  They  consist  chiefly  of  sermons  preached  on 
various  special  occasions.  He  prepared  question-books 
upon  different  parts  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  these 
have  not  been  improved  upon.  He  published  other 
minor  religious  treatises.  His  largest  work  is  the  "  Life 
of  Thomas  Sbepard."  This  is  far  more  than  the  biog- 
raphy of  one  man  ;  it  is  a  concise  history  of  the  move- 
ment which  brought  our  fathers  to  these  shores,  and  a 
plain  exhibition  of  their  principles,  and  a  fine  tribute 
to  their  memory.  It  is  a  work  which  should  be 
in  every  house  in  the  parish,  and  which,  with  Mr. 
Shepard's  autobiography,  should  form  a  part  of  the 
household  instruction. 

"  Let  children  hear  the  mighty  deeds 
"Which  God  performed  of  old." 

He  was  a  faithful  member  of  the  board  of  mana- 
gers of  the  Massachusetts  Sabbath  School  Society,  and 
long  served  on  the  Committee  of  Publication.  He 
usually  presided  at  the  meetings  of  the  committee,  and 
"  always  enlivened  them  by  his  genial  and  keen  criti- 
cisms, and  made  them  instructive  by  his  learning."  It 
is  a  witness  to  the  honor  in  which  he  was  held  that  the 


236  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  Bowdoin  College  in  1848,  and  in  1851  by  Harvard 
College. 

He  was  a  decided  and  intelligent  friend  and  advo- 
cate of  the  faith  and  order  of  the  New  England  Fathers. 
He  believed  in  the  Bible,  and  in  the  system  of  truth 
which  our  churches  from  the  first  had  found  in  it.  He 
believed  in  the  ways  by  which  that  truth  had  been 
established  here.  In  a  discourse  commemorative  of 
the  character  of  the  Fathers  of  New  England,  he 
said,  "  Congregationalism,  the  Congregationalism  of 
our  fathers,  I  mean,  rests  professedly,  not  partly 
upon  the  Bible  and  partly  upon  the  devices  of  men, 
like  the  angel  of  the  Apocalypse,  who  stood  with 
one  foot  upon  the  land  and  the  other  upon  the  sea, 
but  directly  and  solely  upon  the  foundation  of  the 
Apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being 
the  chief  corner-stone." 

In  his  temper  and  habit  Dr.  Albro  was  conservative. 
He  had  no  fondness  for  innovation.  This  was  not 
merely  because  he  did  not  like  new  things,  but  because 
he  had  confidence  in  the  old.  He  saw  that  the  grass 
withereth,  and  that  the  flower  thereof  falleth  away,  and 
he  knew  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  endureth  forever. 
Therefore  he  kept  to  the  word.  The  ways  which  had 
been  tried,  and  had  survived,  he  prudently  believed  to 
be  the  best.  Hence  he  was  found  firm.  He  believed 
in  the  truth.  He  believed  in  the  church,  and  its  min- 
istry, and  its  divine  ordinances.  He  had  confidence 
in  the  covenant,  and  taught  parents  to  bring  their  chil- 
dren to  God,  as  Shepard  had  written  aforetime,  account- 
ing, with  him,  that  "  because  God  loveth  us,  he  chooseth 
our  seed  to  be  of  his  church  also."      He  believed  that 


LECTURE   VIII.  237 

the  truth  plainly  preached,  enforced  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
illustrated  by  the  lives  of  men,  was  mighty  for  the 
overthrow  of  evil  and  the  establishment  of  good.  He 
labored  for  eternal  results. 

His  preaching  was  Scriptural,  logical,  convincing. 
There  was  no  display,  no  effort  at  mere  excitement,  no 
courting  of  applause.  He  taught  the  people.  His 
manner  in  the  pulpit  was  quiet  and  reverential,  He 
spoke  in  a  voice  low,  but  clear  and  musical,  and  capable 
of  varied  expression.  His  sermons  were  upon  small, 
detached  sheets,  which  he  laid  aside  one  by  one.  He 
carefully  excluded  from  his  sermons  an  affluent  imagi- 
nation and  skill  in  illustration  which  made  his  conversa- 
tion rich  and  delightful.  He  was  a  rare  talker,  and 
those  who  knew  him  best  in  private  had  the  largest 
enjoyment  in  his  public  services.  He  never  exhibited 
himself,  but  when  one  sat  by  his  side  his  life  would 
shine  out  through  his  words,  and  irradiate  them.  There 
was  less  of  this  in  his  public  discourse.  He  would 
know  nothing  then,  and  let  people  see  nothing,  but 
Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified.  There  were  "the 
ground,  the  reason,  and  the  power  of  his  ministry." 
It  was  given  to  him  to  sing  and  make  melody  with  the 
lips  as  well  as  with  the  heart.  He  could  lead  the  songs 
of  the  sanctuary  by  his  own  voice,  and  give  to  this 
choice  part  of  the  service  the  guidance  of  a  refined  taste 
and  a  sanctified  spirit.  It  was  with  his  approval  that 
congregational  singing  was  introduced  here,  and  he 
entered  into  the  new  ways  with  great  zeal. 

He  was  a  choice  friend.  With  his  large  experience 
and  wide  observation,  with  his  ready  wit  and  cheerful 
heart,  he  was  able  to  instruct  the  young  and  the  old 
who  gathered  about  him  and  listened  to  his  wrords  as  the 


238  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

"  very  lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleasant  voice  and 
can  play  well  on  an  instrument."  Yet  he  had  but  a 
modest  opinion  of  himself  and  his  attainments.  In  his 
sermon  upon  Washington  Allston  he  applies  to  him  the 
saying  of  Jeremy  Taylor  concerning  the  Countess  of 
Carberry,  a  saying  of  which  his  own  life  afforded  an 
illustration  :  "  As  if  she  knew  nothing  of  it,  she  had  a 
low  opinion  of  herself ;  and,  like  a  fair  taper,  she  shined 
to  all  the  room  ;  yet  round  about  her  own  station  she 
cast  a  shadow  and  a  cloud,  and  so  shined  to  everybody 
but  herself."  But  the  brightness  which  this  burning 
and  shining  light  cast  upon  others  has  left  his  own 
heart  and  deed  illumined.  We  think  of  him,  and  at 
every  thought  give  thanks. 

Dr.  Adams  said  of  him,  "  He  is  a  good  successor." 
May  I  add,  in  my  turn,  "  He  was  a  good  man  to  suc- 
ceed "  ?  One  soweth  and  another  reapeth.  The  sowing 
had  been  good.  The  church  over  which  he  presided  was 
stable,  dignified,  united,  holding  the  truth  in  the  love 
of  it,  with  intelligence  and  firmness.  The  children  of 
the  church  were  baptized,  with  hardly  an  exception,  and 
the  principles  of  religion  were  carefully  laid  in  their 
minds.  The  whole  parish  was  in  order,  settled  in  good 
ways,  appreciative  of  its  minister  and  mindful  of  his 
interests,  free  from  the  strife  and  discord  which  too 
often  intrude  even  into  sacred  things,  willing  to  add  a 
good  record  to  the  history  in  which  it  gloried,  while 
cherishing  a  hope  which  reached  far  into  futurity. 
This  was  the  field  which  I  found  when  I  came  to  enter 
into  his  labors.  There  was  nothing  to  undo.  I  grate- 
fully acknowledge  that  the  peace  and  success  of  these 
later  years  have  been  largely  due  to  his  influence.  He 
was  a  good  man  for  the  reaper  who  should  come  after 


LECTURE   MIL  239 

him.  He  stands  in  the  history  of  this  church  as  a 
Christian  minister. 

I  have  said  little  of  the  external  affairs  of  the  parish 
during  Dr.  Albro's  ministry.  The  salary  tendered  to 
him  at  his  settlement  was  eight  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars for  the  first  year,  with  an  annual  increase  of  fifty 
dollars  until  one  thousand  dollars  should  be  reached. 
There  was  a  pledge  also  to  procure  a  suitable  dwelling- 
house  at  an  annual  rent  not  exceeding  two  hundred  dol- 
lars. In  case  his  salary  for  the  second  and  third  years 
did  not  cover  his  expenses,  he  was  to  have  a  further 
grant,  not  exceeding  fifty  dollars  a  year.  He  was  to 
have  a  vacation  of  two  or  three  weeks  in  each  year,  if 
he  recp:iired  it.  In  the  year  following  his  installation, 
arrangements  were  made  to  erect  a  parsonage.  Money 
was  given  and  borrowed  for  this  purpose,  and  the  house 
in  Holyoke  Street  was  built  which  was  thenceforth 
occupied  by  the  pastor.  The  original  meeting-house 
contained  sixty-six  pews,  which  were  enough  for  that 
time.  In  1840  ten  pews  were  added.  In  1844  the  house 
was  enlarged,  and  twenty  more  pews  were  provided. 
In  1852  the  house  was  increased  to  its  present  dimen- 
sions, and  there  was  room  for  one  hundred  and  thirty 
pews  on  the  floor.  The  number  of  members  of  the 
church  at  Dr.  Albro's  installation  was  one  hundred  and 
one  ;  in  1852  there  were  two  hundred  and  forty-four ; 
in  1865,  after  many  changes,  there  were  nearly  three 
hundred  members.  But,  as  has  been  already  remarked, 
these  figures  by  no  means  measure  the  result  of  his 
work. 

On  the  twelfth  day  of  March,  1865,  the  congregation 
assembled  here  were  surprised  by  a  letter  from  the 
pastor  in  which  he  asked  release  from  his  office.     The 


240  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

thirtieth  year  of  his  ministry  was  drawing  to  a  close. 
He  had  for  some  time  contemplated  this  retirement 
when  that  point  should  be  reached.  He  said  that  the 
great  length  of  his  service,  and  the  changes  which  time 
had  produced,  admonished  him  that  his  official  con- 
nection with  this  people  should  cease.  He  deemed  it 
expedient  for  himself  and  for  them.  Possibly  there 
were  premonitions  of  the  malady  which  at  length  ended 
his  life.  The  church  and  society  consented  to  his  re- 
quest with  feelings  of  deep  emotion,  and  adopted  reso- 
lutions expressive,  of  their  high  estimate  of  his  labors, 
their  conviction  of  his  great  usefulness,  and  their  ear- 
nest desire  for  his  continued  welfare.  The  society 
voted  him  the  use  of  the  parsonage  and  of  the  pastor's 
pew  for  as  long  a  time  as  he  should  choose  to  occupy 
them,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  the  parsonage  might 
be  his  permanent  home  during  his  residence  in  Cam- 
bridge. His  farewell  sermon  was  from  the  prophecy  of 
Micah,  "  0  my  people,  what  have  I  done  unto  thee  ? 
And  wherein  have  I  wearied  thee  ?  Testify  against 
me."  And  they  answered  him.  In  words  and  deeds, 
and  with  generous  gifts,  they  testified  their  love  for  him 
who  had  done  them  good  and  given  them  rest. 

The  15th  of  April,  1865,  terminated  the  labors  of  this 
long  ministry.  But  although  released  from  the  pastoral 
office,  Dr.  Albro  continued  to  be  the  pastor  in  many 
important  respects.  He  preached  often  from  this  pul- 
pit, he  administered  the  sacraments,  he  performed  many 
of  the  works  to  which  he  and  the  people  had  been 
accustomed.  At  the  time  of  an  unusual  religious  in- 
terest he  was  requested  to  instruct  the  new  converts, 
and  to  direct  those  who  were  beginning  a  new  life,  and 
when  the  time  came  for  them  to  unite  with  the  church, 


LECTURE   VIII.  241 

he  received  them,  as  he  had  received  so  many  before 
them.  We  have  heard  after  a  long  time  the  words  of 
one  of  our  honored  ministers  from  the  lines  which  his 
own  hand  had  penned.  Here  is  a  manuscript  which  has 
for  the  second  time  come  into  this  pulpit.  It  is  a  sermon 
preached  by  Dr.  Albro  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  July, 
1866,  when  a  large  number  of  young  persons  were 
received  to  the  church  upon  their  confession  of  faith. 
The  text  is  in  St.  Paul's  words  to  Timothy :  "  These 
things  write  I  unto  thee,  that  thou  mayest  know  how 
thou  oughtest  to  behave  thyself  in  the  house  of  God, 
which  is  the  church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth."  The  preacher  says,  "  For  the 
sake  of  these  young  disciples  —  most  of  whom  were 
born  in  the  church  —  who  have  to-day  publicly  joined 
it  as  members,  I  will  speak  of  the  nature,  the  design, 
and  the  privileges  of  the  church."  After  unfolding 
these  points,  he  bade  them  learn  how  they  ought  to 
behave  themselves  in  the  church,  with  what  love  and 
faith  and  charity,  with  what  delight,  devotion,  zeal,  ear- 
nestness, fervency,  they  should  enter  into  their  new  rela- 
tions and  discharge  their  duties.  "  Such  a  spirit  and 
behavior,"  he  said,  "  would  surely  make  the  church 
the  glory  of  the  land,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth,  in  the  eyes  of  all  people.  It  would  enjoy  pecu- 
liar manifestations  of  the  Saviour's  presence  and  favor. 
Its  influence  upon  all  the  interests  of  society  would  be 
visible  and  permanent.  It  would  be  the  delightful 
home  of  the  soul,  and  afford  a  foretaste  of  the  blessed- 
ness of  that  New  Jerusalem  the  glory  of  which  was 
revealed  in  the  vision  of  the  prophet." 

Dr.  Albro  had  no  desire  for  another  settlement  in 
the    ministry.       He   could   not  have  another  people. 

16 


242  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

But  he  preached  by  invitation  in  neighboring  churches. 
On  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  December,  1866,  he 
officiated  in  the  church  at  West  Roxbury,  in  the  illness 
of  the  pastor.  His  text  was,  "  One  thing  thou  lackest." 
He  was  to  administer  the  Communion  in  the  afternoon, 
and  he  designed  to  preach  in  the  evening  from  the 
words,  "  And  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  giving  thanks  to  God  and  the  Father  by 
him."  When  near  the  close  of  his  morning  sermon,  a 
deathlike  pallor  overspread  his  face.  He  laid  his  hand 
upon  his  breast,  and  then  upon  his  head.  He  finished 
his  discourse,  but  not  with  the  words  which  had  been 
written.  He  offered  an  impressive  prayer,  and  blessed 
the  people.  He  resumed  his  seat,  and  became  insen- 
sible. He  was  removed  to  his  temporary  home  at  the 
house  of  a  deacon  of  the  church.  He  regained  con- 
sciousness, and,  when  the  first  surprise  was  over,  re- 
sumed his  wonted  calmness  and  peace.  He  was  not 
disturbed  by  the  anxiety  of  his  physicians.  "  I  have  a 
natural  wish  to  live,"  he  said,  "  but  I  think  I  feel 
submissive,  and  glad  to  leave  myself  in  God's  hands.'' 
At  a  time  of  intense  suffering  he  uttered  his  thoughts 
in  broken  words  :  "  I  am  in  the  dark  valley  —  it  is  n't 
dark,  though  —  the  passage  is  gentle  —  it  is  all  very 
peaceful "  ;  he  added,  "  There  is  a  great  deal  neces- 
sary to  make  such  a  passage  peaceful,  but  He  speaks, 
and  it  is  done."  When  some  one  reminded  him  that 
he  had  borne  his  pains  with  much  patience,  he  turned 
the  words  to  one  whom  he  loved  better  than  himself: 
"  Did  n't  He  suffer  patiently  ?  As  a  sheep  before  her 
shearers  is  dumb,  so  he  opened  not  his  mouth."  He 
said  that  he  could  express  his  state  by  saying,  "  Vanish- 
ing into  bliss."      Again,  "  Underneath  are  the  everlast- 


LECTURE   Villi  243 

ing  arms.  My  work  is  all  done.  Christ  is  the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life.  Not  only  are  angels  from  heaven 
around  me,  but  you  all  seem  to  be  angels."  Thus 
peacefully,  cheerfully,  he  went  on  his  way.  New 
friends  ministered  to  his  wants,  and  old  friends  lav- 
ished their  attentions  on  him.  And  the  rod  and  the 
staff  of  God  were  for  his  comfort.  The  end  was  quiet. 
With  a  smile  upon  his  face,  and  words  of  kindness  on 
his  lips,  his  voice  faltered,  he  paused  in  the  midst  of 
his  sentence,  and  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  he  was 
gone.  The  one  thing  which  he  lacked  had  come 
to  him.  He  had  gone  on  to  give  thanks  to  God  and 
the  Father  by  the  Lord  Jesus. 

"  He  gave  his  honors  to  the  world  again, 
His  blessed  part  to  heaven,  and  slept  in  peace." 

The  translation  was  on  Thursday,  the  20th  of 
December.  On  the  following  Monday  his  venerated 
form  was  borne  into  this  sanctuary  where  he  had  min- 
istered so  long.  The  house  was  draped  in  mourning. 
A  large  concourse  of  his  friends  was  here  to  do  honor 
to  the  man  of  God.  His  old  church  at  Fitchburg 
sent  representatives  to  show  its  sympathy.  The  tri- 
umphal songs  of  Christian  faith  were  sung.  His  life- 
long friends  and  associates  performed  the  last  minis- 
tries of  our  religion.  The  slow  procession  wended  its 
way  to  Mount  Auburn.  Clergymen  of  five  denomina- 
tions served  as  pall-bearers.  With  tears  of  sorrow  and 
affection  and  hope  the  face  was  covered  from  the  sight 
of  men. 

When  it  was  ascertained  that  he  had  expressed  a 
desire  to  be  laid  to  rest  in  the  Cambridge  Cemetery,  his 
remains  were  removed  to  a  lot  which  had  been  given  to 


244  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

the  church  and  society  "  for  the  use  of  their  respective 
pastors  and  their  families."  It  was  to  be  called  "  the 
Shepard  lot."  The  place  of  his  repose  was  marked  by 
the  people  with  the  memorial  marble,  and  at  the  centre 
of  the  lot  was  erected  a  monument  of  granite  to 
the  memory  of  all  the  deceased  pjastors  of  the  church, 
and  that  bears  his  name.  These  are  near  the  spot 
where  he  stood  when  he  delivered  the  address  at  the 
consecration  of  the  cemetery.  His  burial  gives  a  deeper 
meaning  to  his  words  that  day  :  "  Willingly  we  commit 
our  friends  to  this  consecrated  earth.  Willingly  we 
ourselves  come  to  rest  by  the  side  of  those  who  here 
wait  for  our  early  or  tardy  return."  He  called  it  "  our 
future  dwelling-place."  "May  we,  who,  entering  this 
place  as  the  living,  will  hereafter  pass  along  these 
avenues  as  the  dead,  and  all  who  follow  us  from  gen- 
eration to  generation,  be,  and  remain,  in  life  and  in 
death,  the  blessed  of  the  Lord."  On  the  12th  of 
November,  1870,  when  the  stones  had  been  set  in  their 
places,  we  went  to  dedicate  them  and  the  ground  which 
had  been  hallowed  anew.  It  was  a  stormy  afternoon  ; 
but  a  few  persons  met  at  the  grave,  and  then  at  the 
keeper's  lodge,  where  we  spoke  of  those  who  had  labored 
in  this  ministry  and  had  entered  upon  their  rest,  and 
with  prayer  and  hymn  we  honored  their  memory,  and 
asked  that  their  works  might  abide  with  us.  We  ought 
every  year  to  visit  that  "court  of  peace,"  and  conse- 
crate ourselves  for  life  and  death. 

A  few  months  after  Dr.  Albro's  death  a  very  apprecia- 
tive discourse  in  his  memory  was  preached,  at  the  request 
of  the  church  and  society,  by  the  Eev.  James  H.  Means 
of  Dorchester.  The  name  of  your  tenth  minister  is 
engraved  at  the  entrance  of  our  new  sanctuary,  and  upon 


LECTURE   VIII.  245 

the  mural  tablet  within,  where  it  will  oe  read  till  the 
stone  shall  crumble.  His  picture,  with  the  calm,  saintly, 
paternal  face,  is  in  the  homes  of  most  of  the  people,  and 
the  memorial  volume  in  which  the  church  has  expressed 
its  esteem  for  the  good  minister.  His  memory  is  green 
among  us.  His  work  remains.  It  is  interwoven  with 
the  lives  of  many  of  you,  for  he  baptized  you  and  your 
children,  he  joined  you  in  holy  marriage,  he  received 
you  to  the  communion  of  the  church,  he  brought  Divine 
solace  into  your  sorrowing  homes,  and  he  buried  your 
dead  with  sacred  rites.  He  was  worthy  to  be  written 
in  with  the  renowned  line  of  ministers  who  had  pre- 
ceded him.  He  rejoices  in  the  worship  of  the  skies. 
We  shall  see  him  presently.  Blessed  are  they  who 
have  heard  his  words  while  yet  in  the  flesh,  and  have 
obeyed  them  unto  eternal  life. 

With  a  few  words  more  this  history  rests.  In 
October,  1865,  the  minister  of  the  South  Parish  in 
Augusta,  Me.,  was  invited  to  the  pastoral  care  of  this 
church  and  society.  For  reasons  which  commended 
themselves  to  those  who  had  thus  called  him  the  in- 
vitation was  declined.  In  December,  1866,  the  call  was 
renewed.  The  months  which  had  come  and  gone  had 
brought  the  affairs  of  his  parish  into  a  better  condition 
to  be  given  into  other  hands,  and  this  invitation  was 
accepted.  On  the  24th  of  January,  1867,  he  was  duly 
installed  by  an  Ecclesiastical  Council.  The  sermon  was 
by  Professor  E.  A.  Park,  from  the  words,  "  The  poor  have 
the  gospel  preached  to  them."  The  prayer  of  installation 
was  by  the  Eev.  Dv  E.  Cady,  the  charge  to  the  pastor  by 
the  Eev.  Dr.  Kirk,  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  by  the 
Eev.  John  E.  Todd,  and  the  address  to  the  people  by  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Adams.      And  thus  your  eleventh  minister 


246  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CAMBRIDGE. 

was  introduced  to  his  work  as  the  immediate  successor 
of  one  whose  friendship  and  instruction  he  had  enjoyed, 
and  by  the  side  of  the  College  which  to  so  many  of  us 
is  Alma  Mater.  Let  me  place  it  on  record  here,  that 
during  these  five  years  he  has  had  no  reason  to  ques- 
tion the  propriety  of  the  decision  to  come  to  you,  or  to 
doubt  that  it  was  the  will  of  our  common  Lord.  You 
have  left  him  no  room  to  regret  his  compliance  with 
your  desire.  He  counts  it  a  high  honor  to  be  the 
minister  of  this  ancient  church,  the  reaper  after  so 
many  illustrious  sowers,  the  sower  on  the  broad  field 
where  other  reapers  are  to  be  when  the  Master  has 
come  and  called  for  us.  After  a  few  months  of  begin- 
ning, in  accordance  with  a  previous  agreement,  through 
your  liberality  he  was  permitted  to  spend  six  months 
in  foreign  travel.  Since  his  return  the  work  has  gone 
on  steadily  day  by  day,  year  by  year.  I  offer  no 
estimate  of  results.  God  has  blessed  us  with  large 
blessings.  To  him  be  the  glory.  In  him  be  our  con- 
fidence as  we  press  forward. 

These  years  have  been  marked  with  one  work  de- 
serving to  be  mentioned  among  the  greatest  which  have 
entered  into  our  parish  life.  We  have  begun,  and 
almost  completed,  a  new  house  of  worship,  which  will 
be  the  sixth  home  of  the  church.  It  has  been  planned 
with  large  views,  and  brought  thus  near  its  end  with 
great  harmony  and  good-will.  This  event  marks  an 
epoch  in  the  life  of  the  church.  It  is  almost  a  new 
beginning  of  our  work.  If  our  hopes  are  in  any  meas- 
ure fulfilled,  we  are  about  to  add  a  glorious  future  to 
an  honorable  past.  The  lineage  we  boast,  the  annals 
we  read,  the  faith  we  profess,  the  trust  committed  to 
our  hands,  demand  of  us    a  loyalty  and  heroism   in 


LECTURE   VIII.  247 

which   this   church    shall    prove    itself  the    body    of 
Christ.      - 

As  I  bring  this  history  to  a  close,  there  is  no  space 
for  comment.  None  is  needed.  It  is  our  turn  now. 
The  past  is  secure  ;  the  future  is  what  we  make  it.  Let 
the  past  instruct  us,  the  future  inspire  us,  the  present 
find  us  standing  in  our  lot  and  quitting  ourselves  like 
men,  as  becomes  the  sons  of  our  sires,  the  heirs  of 
Puritans,  the  followers  of  those  who  suffered  loss  for 
the  love  of  Christ,  and  in  their  poverty  reared  these 
walls  which  so  long  have  sheltered  us.  Not  as  if  I 
feared  ;  you  are  doing  well ;  the  record  of  these  days 
will  read  well  when  we  are  dust.  It  is  a  grand  time 
to  live  in.  Let  every  man,  every  child,  do  his  part 
promptly,  generously,  cheerfully.  Then  we  shall  go  up 
to  our  new  and  beautiful  temple  with  songs  of  rejoicing, 
bearing  our  sheaves  with  us,  and  every  one  with  his 
own  sheaves.  And  with  every  stone  our  own,  we  will 
dedicate  the  house  to  God,  our  Father  and  our  Saviour, 
and  throw  wide  its  gates,  that  the  people  may  enter  in 
and  worship  him.  So  let  us  pray,  with  our  gold  and 
silver  in  our  open  hands,  with  our  hearts  in  sympathy 
with  man,  while  we  seek  the  glory  of  Christ  and  the 
church,  "  The  Lord  our  God  be  with  us,  as  he  was  with 
our  fathers." 


APPENDIX. 


MEETING-HOUSES. 

THE  first  meeting-house  here  was  built  by  the  church 
under  the  care  of  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker  and  Rev. 
Samuel  Stone.  It  stood  very  near  the  southwest  corner  of 
Water,  now  Dunster  Street,  and  Spring,  now  Mount  Auburn 
Street. 

The  second  house,  erected  in  1650,  the  third  erected 
in  1706,  and  the  fourth  erected  in  1756,  stood  upon  Watch- 
house  Hill,  very  near  the  present  site  of  Dane  Hall.  The 
fourth  house  was  torn  down  in  1833,  when  the  new  house 
built  by  the  First  Parish  was  dedicated.  There  is  a  draw- 
ing of  the  fourth  house  pi'eserved,  which  is  inscribed,  "  Plan 
of  ye  meeting  House,  and  draft  of  ye  Pews."  From  this 
plan  it  appears  that  the  frame  of  the  building  was  oblong. 
There  were  three  entrances,  —  one  on  the  west  side,  through 
the  tower,  one  on  the  east,  and  one  on  the  south.  The  last 
two  had  outer  porches.  Within  these  was  a  gallery  on  the 
east,  west,  and  south  sides,  supported  on  eight  wooden 
columns.  The  centre  aisle  ran  from  the  south  entrance  to 
the  pulpit  and  the  deacons'  seats  in  front.  On  the  right  of 
the  centre  aisle  were  two  long  benches,  and  on  the  left  four 
more.  These  were  evidently  for  free  sittings.  Pew  No.  1 
was  next  to  the  pulpit  at  the  preacher's  right,  and  the  num- 
bers followed  the  wall  pews  around  the  house,  reaching  the 
pulpit  again  at  the  preacher's  left.     The  names  of  the  oc- 


250  APPENDIX. 

cupants  of  these  wall  pews  are  given  as  follows  :  E.  Trow- 
bridge, P.  Tufts,  Foxcroft,  S.  Kent,  Mary  Tufts,  Richardson, 
R.  Gardner,  Bradish,  E.  Trowbridge  for  W.  Fletcher,  Rich- 
ard Champney,  Seth  Hastings,  J.  Fessenden,  S.  Palmer,  Jr., 
T.  Warland,  Appleton,  Holyoke,  Vassall,  Phipps,  Brattle, 
Minister,  Winthrop,  Sparhawke,  Oliver,  J.  Morse,  E.  Sted- 
man,  Wigglesworth,  Boardman,  E.  Ruggles,  C.  Dana, 
Sprague,  E.  Wyeth,  S.  Hastings,  N.  Kidder,  H.  College,  J. 
Hastings,  Widow  S.  Hastings.  Following  the  numbers,  the 
names  are  Hancock,  S.  Whittemore,  S.  Prentice,  W.  Man- 
ning, A.  Hill,  J.  Hicks,  I.  Bradish,  J.  Watson,  E.  Manning, 
0.  Warland,  Mr.  Marritt's  heirs,  H.  Prentice,  T.  Sodon,  M. 
Gill,  S.  Thatcher,  E.  Wyeth,  C.  Prentice,  I.  Watson,  J.  Read, 
W.  Howe,  P.  Stearns,  R.  Dana,  S.  Danforth,  J.  Monis,  Grant, 
E.  Marritt,  E.  Stedman,  Z.  Bordman,  W.  Angier,-  J.  Strat- 
ton,  J.  Dickson,  Widow  Fessenden,  Inman. 

The  fifth  house  erected  for  the  church  was  that  which  has 
just  been  left,  at  the  corner  of  Mount  Auburn  and  Holyoke 
Streets.  The  following  account  of  this  house  and  of  the 
changes  in  it  was  prepared  in  1852  by  Deacon  Stephen  T. 
Farwell :  — 

"  The  corner-stone  of  the  house  of  worship  for  the  First 
Church  and  Shepard  Congregational  Society  was  laid  on  the 
twenty -first  day  of  September,  1830.  The  house  was  dedicated 
on  the  23d  of  February,  1831.  As  the  house  was  originally 
finished,  it  contained  sixty-six  pews,  which  furnished  ample 
accommodations  for  the  congregation  at  that  time.  The 
society  gradually  increased  in  numbers,  more  room  was 
needed,  and  in  1840,  by  removing  a  partition  from  under 
the  choir  gallery  and  rebuilding  the  pulpit,  ten  additional 
pews  were  obtained.  These  wei'e  sufficient  to  accommodate 
the  increasing  growth  of  the  society  for  a  few  years  only. 
In  1844  it  was  found  necessary  to  enlarge  our  borders. 
Accordingly,  the  house  was  separated  into  two  parts.  The 
northerly  part  was  removed  the  distance  of  sixteen  feet, 


APPENDIX.  251 

laud  having  been  purchased  for  the  purpose  of  Harvard 
College.  The  space  was  then  filled  up,  making  an  addition 
to  the  building  equal  to  one  fourth  of  its  original  length,  and 
adding  twenty  new  pews.  This  addition  sufficed  for  the 
growing  wants  of  the  society  until  the  present  year,  when  it 
had  become  impossible  to  furnish  pews  to  families  who  were 
desirous  of  connecting  themselves  with  the  congregation  in 
public  worship.  It  was  therefore  determined  at  a  parish 
meeting  held  July  7,  1852,  to  enlarge  the  house  by  the 
addition  of  thirteen  feet  to  its  width,  six  and  a  half  feet 
to  each  side  ;  also  by  a  similar  addition  to  the  front  on 
each  side  of  the  tower,  enlarging  thereby  the  room  in  the 
vestibule,  and  giving  two  additional  entrances  to  the  same. 
The  size  of  the  house  with  this  addition,  exclusive  of  the 
tower,  is  eighty  by  sixty-three  feet,  giving  ample  room  for 
one  hundred  and  thirty  pews  on  the  floor.  The  chapel  in 
the  basement,  obtained  by  this  addition  and  by  raising  the 
building  six  and  a  half  feet  above  its  former  foundation,  is 
sixty  by  forty-eight  feet.  Preparatory  to  this  enlargement 
a  strip  of  land  thirteen  feet  in  width  was  purchased  of 
F.  C.  Loring,  Esq.,  on  the  westerly  side  of  the  society's  lot, 
and  the  house  was  removed  six  and  a  half  feet  in  that  direc- 
tion. It  became  necessary,  therefore,  to  remove  the  leaden 
box  which  was  deposited  under  the  corner-stone  of  the  origi- 
nal house.  It  is  replaced  again  this  twenty-first  day  of  Sep- 
tember, A.  D.  1852:  being  first  enclosed  in  another  leaden 
box,  with  this  brief  sketch  of  the  several  enlargements  of  the 
original  church  edifice,  together  with  a  copy  of  '  Some  passages 
in  the  History  of  the  First  Church  in  connection  with  the 
Shepard  Congregational  Society  in  Cambridge,'  prepared  by 
the  present  pastor,  and  printed  in  1842  ;  also  a  copy  of  his 
1  Life  of  Thomas  Shepard,'  the  first  pastor  of  this  church, 
published  in  1847. 

"  The  number  of  church-members  who  followed  the  pastor 
at  the  time  of  the  separation  of  the  church  from  the  First 


252  APPENDIX. 

Parish,  in  1829,  was  about  sixty.  At  the  installation  of 
the  present  pastor,  April  15,  1835,  it  was  one  hundred 
and  one.  The  present  number  is  two  hundred  and  forty- 
four. 

OFFICERS    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

Pastor. 
JOHN  A.  ALBRO. 

Deacons. 

Stephen  T.  Farwell,  Charles  W.  Homer. 

Zelotes  Hosmer,   Clerk. 

LOFFICERS    OF    THE    PARISH. 

Cleric  and  Treasurer. 
Jacob  H.  Bates. 

Prudential  Committee. 
William  Saunders,  AVilliam  Bates, 

Jonas  Wyeth,  2d,  Zelotes  Hosmer, 

William  A.  Saunders. 

Building  Committee. 

William  A.  Saunders,  William  Saunders, 

Gardiner  G.  Hubbard,  Israel  P.  Dunham. 

Architect. 

A.  R.  Estey." 

The  last  services  in  this  church  were  held  on  the  19th  of 
May,  1872.  In  the  morning  the  pastor  preached  from  Ezra 
iii.  12.  In  the  evening  a  public  meeting  was  held,  when 
addresses  were  delivered  by  Hon.  Charles  Theodore  Russell, 
Hon.  Emory  Washburn,  Hon.  Charles  H.  Saunders,  Hon. 
Horatio  G.  Parker,  Rev.  William  L.  Ropes,  George  S. 
Saunders,  Esq.,  and  the  Pastor.  The  chapel  of  the  church 
is  still  used  by  the  Sabbath  School  and  for  the  social  re- 
ligious services  of  the  church.  But  the.  chapel  of  the  new 
house  will  soon  be  completed. 

The  sixth  meeting-house  was  dedicated  on  Wednesday 
evening,  May  22,  1872.  It  stands  on  the  corner  of  Garden 
and  Mason  Streets.     At  the  dedication  the  invocation  was 


APPENDIX.  253 

by  the  Rev.  George  R.  Leavitt,  pastor  of  the  Pilgrim  Church, 
Cambridgeport ;  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  by  the  Rev. 
David  0.  Mears,  pastor  of  the  North  Avenue  Congregational 
Church  ;  the  prayer  before  the  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Andrew 
P.  Peabody,  D.  D.,  of  Harvard  College ;  the  sermon  by  the 
pastor  from  Psalms  xcvi.  6  :  "  Strength  and  beauty  are 
in  his  sanctuary"  ;  the  prayer  of  dedication  was  by  the  Rev. 
Nehemiah  Adams,  D.  D.,  the  ninth  pastor  of  the  church. 
The  music  was  appropriate,  and  included  the  singing  of  the 
following  hymns  :  — 

HYMN", 

Written  by  the  Rev.  Abiel  Holmes,  D.  D.,  and  sung  at  the  Installation  of  the  Rev. 
John  A.  Albro,  D.  D.,  and  of  the  Rev.  A.  McKenzie. 

Great  God  !  thou  heard'st  our  Fathers'  prayer, 

When,  o'er  the  ocean  brought, 
They  with  a  patriarchal  care 

A  Sanctuary  sought. 

Hither  thy  guidance  led  their  feet, 

Here  was  their  first  abode  ; 
And  here,  where  now  their  children  meet, 

They  found  a  place  for  God. 

[Thy  flock,  Immanuel,  here  was  fed, 

In  pastures  green  and  fair  ; 
Beside  still  waters  gently  led, 

And  thine  the  Shepherd's  care. 

That  care  two  hundred  years  attest ; 

Thy  seal  is  still  the  same  ; 
To  every  bosom  be  it  pressed, 

Graved  with  thy  precious  name.] 

Here  may  the  Church  thy  cause  maintain, 

Thy  truth  with  peace  and  love, 
Till  her  last  earth-born  live  again 

With  the  first-born  above. 

0  glorious  change  !     From  conflict  free, 

The  Church,  no  danger  nigh, 
From  militant  on  earth  shall  be 

Triumphant  in  the  sky. 


254  APPENDIX. 


HYMN     OF     DEDICATION, 

BY   MISS    CHARLOTTE   F.    BATES. 

Thou,  whom  the  heavens  cannot  contain, 

Art  willing  yet  to  make  thy  home 
Where  Love  makes  ready  for  thy  reign, 

And  looks  and  longs  for  thee  to  come. 

[As  this  fair  temple  make  the  heart, 

New,  strong,  and  undefiled  for  thee  ; 
Then  may  we,  soul  and  sin  apart, 

The  King  in  all  his  beauty  see.] 

Before  the  cross,  this  holy  hour, 

The  house,  the  heart,  we  consecrate  ;  — 

Give  every  will  a  fruitful  power, 
God's  perfect  plan  to  consummate. 

Blow,  Breath  of  the  Almighty  Strength  ! 

God's  order  nerve  our  souls  to  bring 
From  gross  confusion,  till  at  length 

The  top-stone  bid  the  builders  sing. 

[Let  regal  learning  here  bend  low  ; 

With  Christward  face  like  Mary  sit, 
Till  on  her  brow  the  Master  throw 

A  light  the  ages  shall  transmit. 

With  all  these  dawning  hopes  of  ours, 

We  dedicate  our  sacred  past. 
These  memories,  tender  as  the  flowets, 

Will  yet  this  massive  stone  outlast.] 

Abide  here,  Father,  till  the  day 

When  thy  great  Church  shall  rest  in  thee  ; 

Till  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away, 
Abide  here,  Blessed  Trinity  ! 

The  Report   of  the   Building   Committee,    containing   a 
description  of  the  new  house,  is  here  subjoined  :  — 


APPENDIX.  255 

EEPORT. 

On  the  5th  of  August.  1870,  ground  was  broken  for  the 
foundation  of  this  building  ;  appropriate  religious  services 
were  held,  and  many  interesting  circumstances  relating  to 
the  building  of  the  meeting-house  we  have  just  left,  and  the 
worthy  labors  of  many  connected  therewith,  both  living  and 
dead,  were  kindly  remembered. 

Our  work  went  on ;  the  foundation  walls  were  built  and 
covered  until  the  spring  of  1871.  On  Saturday,  the  29th 
of  April,  1871,  the  corner-stone  of  this  edifice  was  laid, 
when  appropriate  services  were  held,  conducted  by  the 
Pastor,  Rev.  A.  P.  Peabody,  D.  D.,  Rev.  C.  W.  Anable,  D.D., 
Rev.  Kinsley  Twining,  Rev.  David  0.  Mears,  Prof.  H.  E. 
Parker,  of  Dartmouth  College,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Jackson. 

RECORD   OF   DEPOSITS   IN   THE   CORNER-STONE. 

The  leaden  box  unopened  from  the  corner-stone  of  the 
church  building  on  the  corner  of  Holyoke  and  Mt.  Au- 
burn Streets. 

A  copy  of  the  Church  Manual  of  1842. 

Names  of  Members,  1861  and  1871. 

Continuation  of  the  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Church. 

An  account  of  the  Sabbath  School. 

Statement  of  the  Building  Committee. 

Names  of  the  Officers  of  the  Church  and  Parish,  Archi- 
tect, Contractor,  etc.,  viz.  :  — 

Pastor. 
Alexander  McKenzie. 

Deacons. 
Stephen  T.  Farwell,  Charles  T.  Russell, 

Charles  W.  Homer,  George  S.  Saunders. 

Architect. 
A.  C.  Martin. 


256  APPENDIX. 

Building  Committee. 
William  A.  Saunders,  Ephraim  P.  Whitman, 

James  P.  Melledge,  Asa  Gray, 

Joel  Parker,  Stephen  T.  Farwell, 

John  L.  Sands,  Nathaniel  N.  Stickney. 

Prudential  Committee. 
William  A.  Saunders,  John  L.  Sands, 

Horatio  G.  Parker,  Charles  W.  Munroe, 

Nathaniel  N.  Stickney. 

Treasurer. 
^Francis  Flint. 

Sexton  and  Collector. 
Benjamin    F.    Wyeth. 

Contractors. 
Thomas  A.  Graham,  Carew  and  Welch, 

A.  L.  Danforth,  J.  F.  and  F.  L.  Gilman, 

Stephen  Holmes,  James  W.  Bell, 

T.  B.  Wentworth. 

Pamphlets,   as  follows  :  — 

Catalogue  of  Harvard  College. 

Catalogue  of  Andover  Theological  Seminary. 

Mayor's  Address  to  the  City  Government  of  Cambridge, 
1871,  with  the  Reports  of  the  Departments  to  the  City 
Council. 

Services  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Soldiers'  Monument, 
July  13,  1870. 

Services  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Monument  to  the  Men 
of  Cambridge  who  fell  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775.  Nov.  3, 
1870. 

Services  in  Commemoration  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Anniver- 
sary of  the  Settlement  of  Rev.  J.  A.  Albro,  D.  D.,  and  his 
Sermon  on  the  Occasion.     1860. 


APPENDIX.  257 

Memorial  Services  in  connection  with  the  death  of  Rev. 
J.  A.  Albro,  D.  D.     December,  1866. 

Introductory  Sermon  by  Rev.  A.  McKenzie.      1867. 

Manuscript  Sermon  by  the  late  Rev.  Abiel  Holmes,  D.  D., 
delivered  the  second  Sabbath  after  his  Installation  in 
1792. 

A  book  entitled  "The  Free  Gift,"  by  Rev.  Nehemiah 
Adams,  D.  D 

Pictures  op  Churches  and  other  Buildings. 
Of  First  Parish  Church,  Rev.  William  Newell,  D.  D.,  Pastor. 
"   Christ  Church,  Rev.  Nicholas  Hoppin,   D.  D.,  Rector. 
"   Baptist  Church,  Rev.  C.  W.  Anable,  D.  D.,  Pastor. 
"    St.  John's  Chapel,  Rev.  J.  S.  Stone,  D.  D.,  Rector. 
"   North  Avenue  Church,  Rev.  David  0.  Mears,  Pastor. 
"  The  Old  Meeting-House  built  in  1756,  on  the  site  of 
Dane  Law   School  building  ;    removed  in   1833.       (In  ex- 
cavating for  the  moving  of  the  Law  School  building   in 
1871,  the   corner  foundation-stone  of  the  old  structure  was 
found,  and  placed  in  the  north  wall  of  this  building,  with 
date  inscribed,  1756.) 

Of  several  of  the  College  buildings,  and  a  photograph 
from  a  drawing  of  the  new  Church  building. 


Papers. 

A  copy 

of  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  of  April 

29,1871. 

u 

It 

Boston  Post, 

n 

a       n 

n 

il 

Boston  Journal, 

n 

it       n 

n 

n 

Boston  Transcript, 

it 

28,     « 

n 

u 

Boston  Traveller, 

u 

28,     " 

« 

ti 

Congregationalist, 

it 

27,     « 

n 

it 

Cambridge  Chronicle, 

it 

29,     « 

a 

it 

Cambridge  Press, 

it 

29,     « 

a 

it 

Cambridge  Sanitary  Report. 

n 

it 

Order  of  Exercises   at 

tie 

laying   of  the 

Corner-stone. 

17 


258  APPENDIX. 

Before  describing  the  building,  we  will  pause  and  grate- 
fully recognize  the  kindly  favor  of  our  Heavenly  Father  from 
the  very  commencement  of  the  work  untiT  this  moment. 
Favored  in  the  season,  in  the  promptness  and  faithfulness 
with  which  all  the  departments  of  labor  and  materials  have 
been  supplied,  with  few  mistakes  to  amend,  and,  more  than 
all,  no  accident  to  life  or  limb  to  record,  may  we  not,  as  the 
result  of  these  favoring  providences,  rightfully  rejoice  that 
we  are  permitted  to  assemble  in  this  beautiful,  substantial, 
and  convenient  church  building  1  May  it  ever  remain  an 
ornament  to  our  city,  an  honor  to  this  interesting  and  his- 
toric locality,  and  by  the  blessing  of  God  be  a  permanent 
memorial  and  worthy  tribute  to  the  ancient  faith  and  record 
of  the  Fathers,  the  impress  of  whose  labors  and  piety  is 
indelible  in  the  institutions  of  religion,  good  learning,  and 
government  around  us. 

It  has  been  our  purpose  to  erect  a  commodious,  substan- 
tial building,  in  good  architectural  taste,  adapted  to  the 
present  wants  of  the  parish,  and  we  hope  also  for  genera- 
tions to  come  to  be  used  for  the  simple  forms  of  Congrega- 
tional worship. 

We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Martin,  the  architect,  for  the  de- 
sign and  plan.  He  has  given  much  time  and  thought  to 
the  work,  and  has  been  successful  in  the  outlines  and  gen- 
eral grouping  so  essential  to  architectural  effect. 

The  plan,  in  its  general  form,  is  that  of  a  cross,  with 
nave,  side  and  central  aisles,  and  north  and  south  tran- 
septs. 

The  extreme  interior  length  of  the  nave,  from  front  to 
rear,  is  120  feet.  It  terminates  in  the  rear  in  an  octagonal 
apse. 

The  width  of  the  nave  is  34  feet ;  it  is  sepai-ated  from  the 
side  aisles  by  columns  and  semicircular  arches  which  sup- 
port the  roof. 

The  breadth  of  nave  and  side  aisles  together  makes  the 


APPENDIX.  259 

body  of  the  church  60  feet  wide.  The  length  across  the 
transepts  from  north  to  south  is  92  feet. 

The  ceiling  of  nave  and  ti-ansepts  is  of  octagonal  form,  and 
finishes  46  feet  in  clear  height  from  the  floor. 

Two  galleries  are  constructed  with  convenient  stairways 
within  the  audience  room,  one  across  the  front,  and  the 
other  across  the  north  transept,  for  the  organ  and  choir. 

The  building  is  supplied  with  245  pews,  affording  1,200 
sittings. 

The  pews,  doors,  and  finish  throughout  are  of  black- 
walnut. 

Above  the  ceiling  are  large  ventilating  ducts  carefully 
constructed  to  afford  thorough  ventilation. 

In  the  rear  are  convenient  rooms  for  the  pastor,  Sabbath- 
school  library,  etc.,  etc. 

A  vestibule  on  Mason  Street  gives  access  both  to  the 
church  and  the  chapel  to  be  built  hereafter. 

The  principal  entrance  to  the  church  is  by  a  bold  door- 
way on  Garden  Street.  There  are  four  other  entrances  on 
Mason  Street.  Two  will  connect  with  the  chapel  from  the 
south  transept,  and  with  the  tower  by  an  arcade  of  eight 
arches  supported  by  columns. 

The  tower  and  spire  on  the  east  corner  will  be  1 70  feet 
high,  and  will  be  distinctly  seen  from  all  the  streets  diverg- 
ing from  the  Common. 

The  material  of  which  we  have  built  from  the  foundation 
to  the  tip  of  the  spire  is  a  durable  slate,  obtained  within  a 
short  distance  of  this  place  ;  it  will  be  found  to  have  a  warm, 
rich  tint,  and  was  highly  recommended  by  persons  whose 
opinion  we  may  safely  accept. 

For  the  corners  and  such  other  parts  as  are  subject  to 
great  pressure  we  were  fortunate  in  securing  a  red  granite, 
in  color  and  texture  like  the  Scotch,  a  material  which  has 
been  but  little  used  in  this  country.  This  harmonizes 
pleasantly  with  the  stone  used  in  the  walls. 


260  APPENDIX. 

For  other  dressings,  such  as  belts,  doorways,  windows, 
columns,  and  capitals,  the  red  and  light-colored  Pictou 
stone  has  been  used. 

The  architect  says  in  his  description  :  — 

"  The  general  character  of  the  whole  construction  is  de- 
termined by  the  use  of  the  '  Round  Arch.'  It  is  employed 
for  window  and  door  heads,  and  for  the  arcades  on  Mason 
Street. 

"  It  appears  in  the  interior  for  the  support  of  the  roof  and 
in  the  motive  for  all  the  ornament. 

"  No  modern  building  can  or  should  be  a  strict  copy  of 
the  old,  bat  if  it  be  needful  to  specify  the  style  of  architec- 
ture to  which  the  design  of  the  church  belongs,  it  will  be 
found  most  closely  to  resemble  the  earliest  of  the  so-called 
Gothic,  in  which  the  round  or  full  centred  arch  has  the 
same  controlling  influence  as  the  pointed  arch  in  the  later 
style. 

"  The  English  call  it  Norman,  but  the  true  historic  name 
is  Romanesque,  which  marks  its  descent  from  the  old  Roman 
Basilicas,  the  churches  in  which  the  early  Christians  first 
worshipped." 

The  estimated  cost  reported  and  authorized  by  the  society 
for  building  for  occupancy,  exclusive  of  but  30  feet  of  the 
tower,  the  chapel  and  land,  was  $  70,000.  This  work  has 
been  done  for  about  $  2,500  less. 

The  entire  cost  when  tower  and  spire  are  completed,  and 
chapel  built,  with  the  land,  will  be  $  110,000. 

The  organ,  adapted  to  the  architecture  of  the  building, 
was  made  by  Messrs.  E.  and  G.  G.  Hook  &  Hastings. 

It  has  two  manuals  and  a  pedal  of  two  octaves  and  two 
notes. 

Compass  of  manuals,  from  C°  to  A3,  58  notes. 

Compass  of  pedal,  from  C  to  D°,  27  notes. 

The  case  is  of  walnut  with  silvered  pipes  having  gilded 
mouths  :  there  are  31  stops  ;  1,705  pipes ;  7  pedal  move- 
ments.    Cost,  $  5,000. 


APPENDIX.  261 

On  the  north  and  south  walls  are  inserted  two  stone 
tablets,  one  giving  the  historical  events  of  Newtovm  and  of 
the  church  from  the  beginning ;  the  other  devoted  to  the 
memory  of  the  ministers,  with  their  names  and  dates  of 
service. 

ON    THE    NORTH   WALL. 

The  Lord  our  God  be  with  us  as  He  was  with  our  Fathers. 

The  Settlement  of  this  Town  was  begun  A.  D.  1631. 

The  first  Meeting-House  was  built  A.  D.  1632. 

Rev.  Thomas  Hooker  and  Rev.  Samuel  Stone  were  ordained  Ministers 

here  Oct.  11,  1633  ; 

They  removed  with  their  people  to  found  Hartford,  Conn.,  A.  D.  1636. 

This  Church  was  formed  February  1st,  A.  D.  1636. 

The  Cambridge  Platform  was  adopted  A.  D.  1648. 

The  Church  united  with  the  Shepard  Congregational  Society 

A.  D.  1829. 

This  House  was  dedicated  A.  D.  1872. 

ON    THE    SOUTH    WALL. 
To  the  Memory  of  the  Ministers  of  this  Church. 

Thomas  Shepard,  A.  D.  1636-1649. 

Jonathan  Mitchel, A.  D.  1650  -"1668. 

Uriau  Oakes A.  D.  1671-1681. 

Nathaniel  Gookin, A.  D.  1682-1692. 

William  Brattle,  A.  D.  1696-1717. 

Nathaniel  Appleton, A.  D.  1717-1784. 

Timothy  Hilliard,  .  A.  D.  1783-1790. 

Abiel  Holmes, A.  D.  1792-1831. 

A.  D.  1829-1834. 

John  A.  Albro, A.  D.  1835  -  1865. 

A.  D.  1867- 

The  beautiful  "Memorial  Window"  in  the  south  tran- 
sept was  made  in  London,  by  celebrated  artists,  and  is 
pronounced  admirable  in  design  and  execution. 

For  this  we  are  indebted  to  the  liberality  of  one  of  the 
families  of  this  parish,  from  whom  also  we  have  received 


262  APPENDIX. 

important  suggestions,  particularly  as  to  the  peculiar  glass 
used  in  the  other  windows  of  the  building. 

The  pulpit  is  the  result  of  the  labors  of  "  little  workers," 
the  children,  guided  by  those  who  are  ever  ready  to  respond 
to  the  calls  of  duty  and  good  service.  The  font  is  also  the 
children's  gift. 

The  other  furnishings  of  the  church  were  supplied  by  the 
foresight,  industry,  and  liberality  of  the  ladies  of  the  parish. 

In  short,  in  each  department  of  labor  necessary  to  com- 
plete the  undertaking,  we  have  found  the  right  service 
cheerfully  offered  at  the  right  time. 

It  only  remains  for  your  committee,  therefore,  to  sur- 
render this  edifice  for  dedication  to  the  worship  of  Almighty 
God  and  the  promotion  of  his  kingdom.  May  it  also  be  a 
memorial  offering  to  the  long  succession  of  faithful  min- 
isters, beginning  with  him  whose  honored  name  the  society 
bears, — Thomas  Shepard. 

For  the  Committee, 

WILLIAM  A.  SAUNDERS. 

Note.  —  The  glass  is  English,  called  "  Cathedral,"  and  is  the  same 
as  that  used  in  the  early  churches  of  England. 

The  old  method  of  manufacturing  the  glass  has  been  lost,  and  the 
way  of  reproducing  its  effect  has  but  recently  been  discovered.  The 
glass  is  just  coming  into  use  in  this  country. 

The  plan  of  renting  the  pews  in  this  house  upon  a  per- 
manent lease  was  adopted  after  full  consideration,  and  has 
the  approval  of  the  parish.  The  pews  have  been  rented 
with  great  readiness,  and  the  financial  success  of  the  enter- 
prise seems  already  secured. 

Pictures  of  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  meeting-houses  are 
to  be  found  in  the  preceding  pages,  with  a  picture  of  the 
house  erected  by  the  First  Parish  after  the  separation. 


APPENDIX.  263 

II. 

PARSONAGE. 

A  PICTURE  of  the  old  parsonage,  with  the  house  of 
Judge  Dana  iu  the  distance,  will  also  be  found  in 
its  place.  Concerning  this  parsonage  the  records  tell  us 
that  "at  a  public  meeting  of  the  church  and  town  to 
consider  of  supply  for  the  ministry,  it  was  agreed  that  there 
should  be  a  house  bought  or  built  to  entertain  a  minister." 
That  was  in  1669,  the  year  after  Mr.  Mitchel's  death.  In 
the  same  year  the  parish  sold  for  this  purpose  the  church's 
farm  of  six  hundred  acres  in  Shawshine  for  £  230  sterling. 
Soon  after  four  acres  of  land  were  purchased  in  what  is  now 
the  College  yard,  nearly  opposite  the  end  of  Holyoke  Street. 
In  1670  a  house  was  erected  thirty-six  feet  long  and  thirty 
wide.  This  house  was  "  to  remain  the  church's,  and  to  be 
the  dwelling-place  of  such  a  minister  and  officer  as  the  Lord 
shall  be  pleased  to  supply  us  withal,  during  the  time  that 
he  shall  supply  that  place  amongst  us."  In  1720  a  new 
front  was  put  upon  the  house.  All  the  ministers  after  Mr. 
Mitchel  resided  in  this  house  until  1807,  when  Dr.  Holmes 
left  it  for  the  house  still  standing  in  Holmes  Place,  and 
more  particularly  associated  with  his  name.  The  old  par- 
sonage house  was  subsequently  taken  down. 


264  APPENDIX. 


III. 


OFFICERS    OF   THE    CHURCH 

FROM  ITS  FORMATION  IN  1636. 

Pastors. 

REV.  THOMAS  SHEPARD,  ordained  February,  1636. 
Died  August  25,  1649. 

Rev.  Jonathan  Mitchel,  ordained  August  21,  1650. 
Died  July  9,  1668. 

Rev.  Urian  Oakes,  ordained  November  8,  1671.  Died 
July  25,  1681. 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Gookin,  ordained  November  15,  1682. 
Died  August  7,  1692. 

Rev.  William  Brattle,  ordained  November  25,  1696. 
Died  February  15,  1717. 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Appleton,  D.  D.,  ordained  October  9, 
1717.     Died  February  9,  1784. 

Rev.  Timothy  Hilliard,  installed  October  27,  1783. 
Died  May  9,  1790. 

Rev.  Abiel  Holmes,  D.  D.,  installed  January  25,  1792. 
Dismissed  September  26,  1831. 

Rev.  Nehemiah  Adams,  ordained  December  17,  1829. 
Dismissed  March  14,  1834. 

Rev.  John  A.  Albro,  D.  D.,  installed  April  15,  1835. 
Dismissed  April  15,  1865. 

Rev.  Alexander  McKenzie,  installed  January  24,  1867. 

Ruling  Elders. 

[The  following  list  comprises  the  names  of  those  who  are  known   to 
have  been  Ruling  Elders  of  the  church.] 

Edmund  Frost.  He  came  to  New  England  in  1635,  and 
was  made  a  freeman  in  1636.     He  died  July  12,  1672. 


APPENDIX.  265 

Richard  Champney.  He  came  to  New  England  in  1G35, 
and  was  made  a  freeman  in  163G.  He  died  November  2G, 
1669. 

Jonas  Clark.  He  was  made  a  freeman  in  1647.  Or- 
dained Hiding  Elder  November  15,  1682.  He  died  January 
11,  1699,  aged  eighty  years. 

John  Stone.  He  came  to  New  England  in  1635,  it  is 
thought,  and  was  made  a  freeman  in  1665.  Ordained 
Ruling  Elder  November  15,  1682.  He  died  May  5,  1683, 
aged  sixty-four  years. 

Deacons. 

[The  following  list  comprises  the  names  of  those  who  are  known  to 
have  been  Deacons  of  the  church.] 

John  Bridge.     Freeman  1635.     Died  1665. 

Thomas  Harriot.     Freeman  1636.     Died  1664. 

Thomas  Cheeseholme.     Freeman  1G36.     Died  1671. 
Gregory  Stone.     Freeman  1636.     Died  1672. 

Nathaniel  Sparrowhawke.    Freeman  1639.    Died  1647. 

Nathaniel  Sparrowhawke.  Freeman.  Died  January, 
1687. 

Edward  Collins.     Freeman  1640.     Died  1689. 

John  Cooper.     Freeman  1642.     Died  1691. 

Walter  Hasting.     Born  1631.     Died  1705. 

Samuel  Cooper.     Chosen  March  22,  1705.     Died  1718. 

Nathaniel  Hancock.    Chosen  June  7,  1705.    Died  1719./^^ 
-    Samuel  Kidder.     Chosen  January  22,  1718.     Died  1724*j  /(^  f 

Joseph  Coolidge.       Chosen  January  22,  1718.        Diecr 
1737. 

Nathaniel  Sparrowhawke.  Chosen  August  5,  1724. 
Died  1734. 

Samuel  Bowman.  Chosen  August  5,  1724.  Died  before 
1741. 

Samuel  Sparrowhawke.  Chosen  April  12,  1734.  Died 
1774. 


266  APPENDIX. 

John  Bradish.     Chosen  May  5,  1738.     Died  1741. 

Samuel  Whittemore.  Chosen  November  24,  1741.  Died 
about  1783. 

Henry  Prentice.  Chosen  November  24,  1741.  Resigned 
July  14,  1774. 

Aaron  Hill.     Chosen  July  14,  1774.     Died  1792. 

Stephen  Sewall.     Chosen  May  18,  1777.     Died  1804. 

Gideon  Frost.     Chosen  June  30,  1783.     Died  1803. 

James  Munro.     Chosen  June  30,  1783.     Died  1804. 

John  Walton.    Chosen  November  19,  1792.  Died  1823. 

William  Hilliard.     Chosen  April  5,  1804.     Died  1836. 

Josiah  Moore.     Chosen  January  4,   1805.     Died  1814. 

James  Munro.     Chosen  August  2,  1818.     Died  1848. 

Stephen  T.  Far  well.  Installed  April  30,  1837.  Died 
Oct.  20,  1872. 

Charles  W.  Homer.     Installed  January  4,  1849. 

Charles  Theo.  Russell.  Installed  July  2,  1869.  Re- 
signed September  15,  1871. 

George  S.  Saunders.     Installed  July  2,  1869. 

PRESENT  OFFICERS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

1872. 

Pastor. 

Rev.  Alexander  McKenzie. 

Deacons. 

Charles  W.  Homer,  George  S.  Saunders. 

Clerk 

George  S.  Saunders. 

Standing  Committee. 
The  Standing  Committee  of  the  Church  consists  of  the 
Pastor,  Deacons,  the  Clerk,  Superintendent  of  the  Sabbath 
School  (Francis  Flint),  and  the  following  brethren  :  Charles 
W.  Munroe,  James  A.  Shedd. 


APPENDIX.  267 


IV. 


CONFESSION   OF   FAITH,  AND   FORM   OF 
ADMISSION. 

THE  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH  of  this  church  is  in 
substance,  and  for  the  most  part  in  language,  taken 
from  the  "  Confession  of  Faith  owned  and  consented  unto 
by.  the  Elders  and  Messengers  of  the  Churches  assembled 
at  Boston,  May  12,  1680."  The  "Boston  Confession"  is 
the  basis  of  the  confessions  of  the  Congregational  churches 
of  New  England,  and  it  expresses  the  doctrinal  views  of 
this  church  through  its  entire  history. 


FORM   OF   ADMISSION   TO   THE   COMMUNION   OF  THE 
CHURCH.  —  ADOPTED  1872. 

The  candidates  shall  present  themselves  before  the  pulpit,  where  they 
shall  be  met  by  the  minister,  who  shall  repeat  one  or  more  of  the 
following  sentences  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  such  other  sentences 
as  he  may  choose  :  — 

Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of 
Me  ;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart ;  and  ye  shall  find 
rest  unto  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden 
is  light. 

And  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say,  Come.  And  let  him 
that  heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come. 
And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely. 

Whosoever  therefore  shall  confess  Me  before  men,  him 
will  I  confess  also  before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 


268  APPENDIX. 

The  minister  shall  then  address  the  candidates  as  follows,  and  shall 
recite  the  Creed  of  the  church  for  their  assent :  — 

Dearly  Beloved,  —  You  have  presented  yourselves  in  this 
holy  place  to  make  confession  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
to  enter  into  covenant  with  his  Church.  We  trust  that  you 
know  the  solemnity  and  the  blessedness  of  this  time,  and 
we  are  confident  that  He  which  hath  begun  a  good  work  in 
you  will  perform  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ. 

We  believe  in  one  living  and  true  God  ;  creator,  pre- 
server, and  ruler  of  all  things  ;  glorious  in  holiness,  plenteous 
in  mercy  and  truth. 

In  the  Father  Almighty  :  Lord  and  giver  of  life  ;  Avho  is 
to  be  supremely  loved  and  perfectly  obeyed ;  whose  com- 
mandment is  holy  and  just  and  good. 

And  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  our  Lord  ;  who  was  in 
the  beginning  with  God  and  was  God  ;  who  for  us  men,  and 
for  our  salvation,  came  down  from  heaven  and  was  made 
man.  He  was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried.  He  arose  from 
the  dead  and  ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  Father.  He  shall  come  again  with  glory 
to  judge  both  the  quick  and  the  dead  ;  when  every  one  shall 
receive  the  things  done  in  his  body,  according  to  that  he 
hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad.  Of  His  kingdom 
there  shall  be  no  end. 

And  we  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter  ;  by 
whom  the  Scriptures  were  given  ;  who  renews  and  sanctifies 
the  heart ;  by  whose  power  we  are  kept  unto  immortal  life. 
Who,  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  together  one  God,  is  to 
be  worshipped  and  glorified,  world  without  end. 

Before  Almighty  God  our  Heavenly  Father  we  humbly 
acknowledge  our  guiltiness,  casting  ourselves  upon  his  in- 
finite goodness  and  mercy. 

We  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins  through  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  whose  name  we  confess,  whose 


APPENDIX.  269 

"Word  we  receive,  in  whose  mediation  alone  we  steadfastly 
trust. 

We  believe  in  one  Church,  on  earth  and  in  heaven  :  in 
one  Baptism  :  in  one  Communion  in  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ ;  and  we  look  for  the  Resurrection  of  the  dead,  and 
the  Life  of  the  world  to  come.     Amen. 

You  who  have  now  made  this  Confession  do  acknowledge 
the  Lord  Jehovah  —  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  —  to  be  your  God  ;  to  HIM  you  devote  your  supreme 
affection ;  to  his  service  you  consecrate  your  life ;  and 
naming  yourselves  with  the  name  of  Christ,  you  avow  your 
purpose  to  glorify  him  in  your  body  and  in  your  spirit, 
which  are  his. 

Baptism  will  here  be  administered  to  those  who  have  not  before  been 
baptized,  with  these  words,  — 

A.  B.,  I  baptize  thee,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Amen. 

To  the  other  candidates  the  minister  shall  say,  — 
You  who  were  baptized  in  childhood  do  now  gratefully 
accept  that  as  your  baptism,  while  you  confirm  the  covenant 
which  then  was  made  for  you. 

The  members  of  the  Church  shall  here  rise,  and  the  minister  shall 
continue  :  — 

Because  you  make  this  Confession,  we,  the  members  of 
this  church,  affectionately  welcome  you  to  fellowship  with 
us  in  all  duties  and  blessings,  rejoicing  with  you  in  the  joy 
of  the  Lord,  and  praying  for  you  with  assurance  and  long- 
ing, that  when  the  Chief  Shepherd  shall  appear,  ye  may  re- 
ceive a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away. 

Here  the  Church,  with  those  who  have  just  made  confession,  and 
those  who  have  been  received  from  other  churches,  shall  repeat  this 
covenant,  saying  :  — 

We  who  are  now  brought  together  and  united  into  one 
Church,  under  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  Head,  in  such 


270  APPENDIX. 

sort  as  becometh  all  those  whom  he  hath  redeemed  and 
sanctified  to  himself,  do  here  solemnly  and  religiously,  as 
in  his  most  holy  presence,  promise  and  bind  ourselves  to 
walk  in  all  our  ways  according  to  the  rule  of  the  Gospel, 
and  in  all  sincere  conformity  to  his  holy  ordinances,  and  in 
mutual  love  and  respect  each  to  other,  so  near  as  God  shall 
give  us  grace. 

Here  the  minister  shall  take  the  new  members  by  the  hand  in  token 
of  fellowship  with  Christ  and  »the  Church,  repeating  some  appro- 
priate sentence  of  Scripture.  He  shall  then  address  them  in  these 
words :  — 

Now,  therefore,  Beloved  in  the  Lord,  ye  are  no  more 
strangers  and  foreigners,  but  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints, 
and  of  the  household  of  God  ;  and  are  built  upon  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself 
being  the  chief  Corner-stone.    For  this  cause  — 

[Here  all  will  take  the  customary  attitude  of  prayer] 

we  bow  our  knees  unto  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
of  whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named, 
that  he  would  grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  his 
glory,  to  be  strengthened  with  might  by  his  Spirit  in  the 
inner  man ;  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith  ; 
that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to 
comprehend  with  all  saints,  what  is  the  breadth,  and 
length,  and  depth,  and  height,  and  to  know  the  love  of 
Christ  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  might  be  filled 
with  all  the  fulness  of  God. 

Now  unto  ,Eim  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power 
that  worketh  in  us,  unto  Him  be  glory  in  the  Church 
by  Christ  Jesus  throughout  all  ages,  world  without  end. 
Amen. 


APPENDIX.  271 


MEMBERSHIP. 

AS  the  early  records  are  imperfect,  it  is  impossible  to 
ascertain  the  number  of  those  who  have  been  con- 
nected with  the  church  since  its  formation.  It  is  estimated 
that  it  is  not  very  far  from  three  thousand. 

The  records  show  that  the  number  of  admissions  during 
the  pastorate 

of  Dr.  Holmes  was    .  .  .  .  .  .221 

of  Dr.  Holmes  and  Mr.  Adams        .         .         .  57 

of  Mr.  Adams  ......        26 

of  Dr.  Albro 423 

During  the  interim  after  Dr.  Albro's  pastorate    .        38 
During  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  McKenzie  is  178 

The  present  membership  of  the  church  is  about  four 
hundred.  A  new  Manual  of  the  Church  has  been  printed 
during  the  present  year,  giving  the  names  of  the  officers 
and  members  from  the  beginning,  so  far  as  they  are  known. 


VI. 


THE  following  statement  of  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Massachusetts  in  the  case  by  which  the 
property  rights  of  this  church  were  practically  determined, 
and  of  the  contrast  with  that  decision  of  one  recently 
made  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  has 
been  prepared  for  this  work  by  members  of  the  Suffolk  Bar. 


272  APPENDIX. 

This  statement  should  be  read  in  connection  with  Lecture 
VII. 

Baker  and  another  vs.  Fales. 

In  the  case  of  Baker  and  another  against  Fales,  reported 
in  the  sixteenth  volume  of  Massachusetts  Reports,  p.  488, 
the  following  were  the  facts  :  In  1641,  John  Phillips  aliened 
and  sold  to  the  church  in  Dedham,  forever,  three  acres  of 
land.  In  the  same  year,  Joseph  Kingsbury,  upon  con- 
sideration, granted  to  the  church  in  Dedham,  and  to  the 
use  of  the  same  forever,  three  acres  of  land.  In  January, 
1642,  the  proprietors  voted  that  forty  acres  at  the  least,  or 
sixty  acres  at  the  most,  should  be  set  apart,  in  an  intended 
division,  for  public  use,  viz.,  for  the  town,  the  church,  and  a 
free  school.  In  1655  or  1656,  there  was  granted  to  the 
church  in  Dedham,  and  to  their  successors  forever,  in  the 
dividend  near  Medfield,  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land. 
In  1659,  there  was  a  similar  grant  of  twenty-four  acres  of 
upland  in  Natick  dividend.  In  the  two  last  grants,  there 
was  no  designation  of  any  trust  or  use. 

In  1660,  at  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town, 
there  was  a  grant  to  the  church  in  Dedham,  and  to  the  use 
thereof  forever,  of  certain  common  rights  and  cow  rights, 
for  the  use  and  accommodation  of  a  teaching  chinch  officer. 
There  were  several  other  grants  from  the  proprietors  to  the 
church  in  Dedham  and  their  successors  in  office. 

These  lands  had  been  sold,  and  the  proceeds  invested  in 
bonds  and  other  securities. 

The  question  was,  who  was  the  owner  of  these  bonds  and 
securities  and  certain  records  and  documents,  all  of  which 
were  admitted  to  be  the  property  of  the  first  church  in 
Dedham. 

It  was  admitted  that  the  first  parish  and  first  church  in 
Dedham  continued  and  associated  together,  in  the  support 
and  maintenance  of  public  worship,  until  November,  1818, 


APPENDIX.  273 

when  the  Rev.  Alvan  Larnson  was  settled  and  ordained  as 
the  minister  of  the  first  parish,  that  a  majority  of  the 
church  did  not  concur  with  the  majority  of  the  parish  in 
giving  a  call  to  Mr.  Lamson,  or  in  his  settlement  and  or- 
dination. 

It  appeared  from  the  records  of  the  church,  that  in  1792 
the  church  directed  the  trustees  of  the  church  fund  to 
appropriate  one  year's  interest  thereof  to  the  payment  of 
the  then  minister's  salary,  and  in  1819  the  parish  requested 
the  church  to  pay  and  allow  the  sum  of  $  600,  towards  Mr. 
Lamson's  salary.  At  another  meeting  of  the  parish,  the 
same  year,  it  was  voted  to  unite  with  the  church  to  obtain 
the  property  of  the  church,  to  indemnify  the  deacons  there- 
in, and  to  put  Mr.  Lamson  in  possession  of  the  parsonage 
house. 

Those  members  of  the  ancient  church  who  adhered  to 
Mr.  Lamson  after  his  ordination,  had  continued  associated 
and  connected  with  the  first  parish,  and  had  continued  to 
act  as  a  church,  and  to  have  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel 
administered  to  them  by  Mr.  Lamson. 

The  defendant  was  a  deacon  of  the  church  previously  to 
Mr.  Lamson's  settlement ;  after  which  settlement  he  was 
removed,  and  the  plaintiffs  were  elected  to  that  office  by 
the  church  who  united  with  the  parish  in  the  settlement 
of  Mr.  Lamson. 

The  defendants  contended  that  the  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  who  objected  to  the  settlement  of  Mr. 
Lamson,  must  be  considered  as  the  successors  of  the 
ancient  church  in  Dedham ;  and  proved  that,  after  the 
settlement  of  Mr.  Lamson,  the  majority  of  the  members 
of  the  church,  with  the  defendant,  then  one  of  the  deacons 
of  said  church,  met  and  worshipped  with  some  of  the  parish 
at  another  house,  and  did  not  after  that  time  attend  public 
worship  at  the  meeting-house.  But  the  Christian  ordi- 
nances were  administered  to  them,  and  they  held  church 
18 


274  APPENDIX. 

meetings,  and  claimed  to  be  the  successors  of  the  first 
church  in  Dedham. 

They  did  not  attend  worship  at  Mr.  Lamson's  meeting- 
house when  the  meeting  was  notified  from  the  pulpit  at 
which  the  plaintiffs  were  chosen  Deacons ;  and  this  was 
known  when  the  meeting  was  notified. 

The  church  in  Dedham  had  always  had  exclusive  control 
and  management  of  the  property  and  the  funds  raised  from 
the  sales  of  land  before  mentioned. 

The  members  of  the  church  who  united  with  the  parish 
in  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Lamson  never  formed  or  were 
gathered  into  a  new  church. 

The  court  said  :  If  the  plaintiffs  are  not  the  deacons  of 
the  first  church  in  Dedham,  they  are  not  entitled  to  the  pos- 
session of  the  property ;  if  they  are  such  deacons,  then,  as 
the  articles  are  agreed  to  belong  for  certain  purposes  to  the 
proper  representatives  of  that  church,  the  plaintiffs  are  con- 
stituted by  law  the  proper  persons  to  sue  for  and  have  the 
custody  of  them. 

The  court  premised  that  all  the  securities  in  question 
arose  from  the  sales  of  land  granted  to  the  church  in  Ded- 
ham, and  that  the  records  and  documents  in  question  re- 
lated to  that  property  and  the  proceedings  of  that  church. 
The  right  to  the  securities  must  depend  upon  the  construc- 
tion to  be  given  to  the  grants  of  land  of  which  the  se- 
curities are  the  proceeds. 

Upon  these  facts  the  court  held,  — 

That,  as  to  all  the  grants,  the  church,  however  com- 
posed at  the  time,  was  intended  by  the  grantors  to  be  the 
mere  trustees,  to  hold  the  grants  for  the  purpose  of  sup- 
porting out  of  the  proceeds  a  pastor  or  minister. 

That  when  the  donation  is  to  the  church,  no  trust  or 
use  being  expressed,  and  no  other  implied  from  the  nature 
of  the  property,  the  parish  must  be  the  cestui  que  trust,  or 
the  party  for  whose  benefit  the  trust  is  made. 


APPENDIX.  275 

That  the  grants  of  land  to  the  church  in  Dedham  were 
intended  to  vest  the  property  in  that  body  for  the  purpose 
of  the  public  worship  of  God ;  and  that  the  members  of 
the  church  acquired  no  legal  estate  or  personal  interest 
therein. 

That  the  grants  of  the  old  proprietors  gave  an  equitable 
fee  simple  to  whosoever  shall  be  found  to  be  the  cestui  que 
trusts,  and  the  want  of  a  grantee  in  trust  has  been  supplied 
by  the  statute  of  1754,  which  constitutes  the  deacons  of 
the  churches  the  trustees  in  all  such  cases. 

That  upon  the  ground  that,  at  the  time  the  grants  were 
made,  there  was  a  body  of  men  in  Dedham  known  by  the 
name  of  the  Dedham  Church ;  distinct  from  the  society  of 
Christians  usually  worshipping  together  in  that  town ;  the 
church  was  intended  to  take  nothing  in  the  lands  granted 
but  estates  in  trust ;  and  that  as  the  particular  trusts  in- 
tended must  have  been  the  providing  for  the  public  worship 
of  God  in  Dedham,  the  inhabitants  at  large  of  that  town, 
as  parishioners  or  members  of  the  religious  society,  were 
the  proper  cestui  que  trusts. 

That  the  land  granted  was  for  the  beneficial  use  of  the 
assembly  of  Christians  in  Dedham,  which  was  no  other 
than  the  inhabitants  of  that  town  who  constituted  the  re- 
ligious society,  within  which  the  church  was  established, 
and  therefore  these  inhabitants  were  the  cestui  que  trusts, 
and  the  equitable  title  was  vested  in  them,  as  long  as  they 
continued  to  constitute  the  assembly  denominated  the 
church  in  the  grants. 

That,  though  since  the  grants  were  made  parishes  have 
been  set  off  in  the  town,  and  other  churches  have  been 
established  within  these  parishes,  a  residuum  has  always 
been  left,  which,  by  the  statutes  of  the  government  and  the 
decisions  of  the  courts,  have  thus  become  the  first  parish,  • 
and  have  lawfully  succeeded  to  all  the  rights  vested  in  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town,  of  a  parochial  nature,  which  have  • 
not  been  parted  with  in  some  legal  form. 


276  APPENDIX. 

That  in  1754,  the  legislature,  having  found  much  prop- 
erty had  been  given  to  churches,  with  the  intention  that  the 
same  should  be  held  in  perpetual  succession,  constituted 
the  deacons  a  corporation  with  the  power  of  holding  the 
property  for  the  purpose  of  executing  therewith  the  will  of 
the  donors. 

We  are  now  brought,  says  the  court,  to  the  question 
whether  the  plaintiffs  have  proved  themselves  to  be  the 
deacons  of  the  same  church  to  which  the  grants  were  origi- 
nally made,  for  the  trusts  before  mentioned  1 

Having  stated  the  facts  as  follows,  viz.  :  — 

Until  the  invitation  given  to  Mr.  Lamson,  the  present  offi- 
ciating minister  in  the  first  parish  in  Dedham,  the  church 
and  congregation  appear  to  have  acted  in  unison,  and  the 
funds  held  by  the  church,  arising  from  the  grants  of  land 
which  have  been  considered,  have  been  from  time  to  time 
applied,  as  needed,  to  the  support  of  the  minister,  and  to 
defray  other  charges  relating  to  public  worship.  On  the  dis- 
mission of  Rev.  Mr.  Bates  from  the  pastoral  charge  of  the 
church  and  congregation  in  Dedham,  at  his  own  request,  the 
unhappy  dissension  arose  which  has  terminated  in  a  dismem- 
berment of  the  society  and  a  litigation  about  the  property. 
Mr.  Lamson  was  elected  by  the  parish,  at  a  regular  parish 
meeting,  to  be  the  successor  of  Mr.  Bates.  The  church  re- 
fused to  concur  in  the  choice,  a  majority  of  this  body  disap- 
proving of  his  religious  tenets,  or  for  other  causes.  The 
parish,  with  the  minority  of  the  church,  invited  a  respectable 
council,  consisting  of  the  ministers  of  several  churches  and 
delegates,  who  advised  to  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Lamson  over 
the  parish,  and  who  accordingly  ordained  him,  notwith- 
standing the  remonstrance  of  a  majority  of  the  church, 
who  finally  seceded  from  the  parish,,  and  never  since  the 
ordination  of  Mr.  Lamson  have  attended  public  worship 
there,  but  have  in  another  place,  within  the  teiTitorial 
limits  of  the  parish,  attended  public  worship,  and  had  the 
ordinances  administered  to  them  as  a  church. 


APPENDIX.  277 

After  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Lamson,  a  church  meeting 
was  called,  at  which  the  members  who  acted  with  the  parish 
attended,  and  they  voted  to  remove  from  office  the  former 
deacons,  who  seceded  with  the  majority  of  the  old  church, 
and  elected  the  plaintiffs  in  their  stead. 

The  members  who  seceded  claimed  still  to  be  the  first 
church  in  Dedham,  and  the  successors  of  the  church  to 
which  the  property  was  given  in  trust  ;  the  defendant 
claimed  to  be  the  deacon  of  that  church,  and  as  such 
claimed  a  right  to  hold  the  property. 

The  court  held,  — 

That,  in  whatever  light  ecclesiastical  councils  or  persons 
might  consider  the  question,  the  body  which  is  to  be  con- 
sidered the  first  church  in  Dedham  must  be  the  church  of 
the  first  parish  in  that  town,  as  to  all  questions  of  prop- 
erty which  depend  upon  that  relation. 

That  if  a  church  may  subsist  unconnected  with  any 
congregational  society,  it  has  no  legal  qualities,  and  more 
especially  cannot  exercise  any  control  over  property  which 
it  may  have  held  in  trust  for  the  society  with  which  it  had 
been  formerly  connected. 

That,  as  to  all  civil  purposes,  the  secession  of  a  whole 
church  from  the  parish  would  be  an  extinction  of  the 
church ;  and  it  is  competent  to  the  members  of  the  parish 
to  institute  a  new  church,  or  to  engraft  one  upon  the  old 
stock,  if  any  of  it  should  remain ;  and  this  new  church 
would  succeed  to  all  the  rights  of  the  old,  in  relation  to  the 
parish. 

That  the  only  circumstance  which  gives  a  church  any 
legal  character  is  its  connection  with  some  regularly  consti- 
tuted society ;  and  those  who  withdraw  from  the  society 
cease  to  be  members  of  that  particular  church,  and  the 
remaining  members  continue  to  be  the  identical  church. 

That  where  members  enough  of  a  church  connected  with 
a  parish  are  left  to  execute  the  objects  for  which  a  church 


278  APPENDIX. 

is  gathered,  choose  deacons,  etc.,  no  legal  change  has  taken 
place,  the  body  remains,  and  the  secession  of  a  majority  of 
the  members  would  have  no  other  effect  than  a  temporary 
absence  would  have  upon  a  meeting  which  has  been  regu- 
larly summoned. 

That  the  members  of  the  church  who  withdrew  from  the 
parish  ceased  to  be  the  first  church  in  Dedham,  and  that 
all  the  rights  and  duties  of  that  body,  relative  to  property 
intrusted  to  it,  devolved  upon  those  members  who  remained 
with  and  adhered  to  the  parish. 

The  court  then  takes  up  the  question,  whether  the  plain- 
tiffs were  duly  chosen  deacons  of  the  church  which  re- 
mained with  the  parish,  and  so  became  entitled  to  the 
possession  of  the  property,  as  the  trustees  under  the  statute 
of  1754. 

This  question  was  thought  to  depend  upon  the  validity 
of  the  settlement  and  ordination  of  Mr.  Lamson ;  and  the 
court  held,  — 

That  the  parish  had  the  constitutional  right  to  elect  and 
contract  with  their  minister,  exclusively  of  any  concurrence 
or  control  of  the  church. 

That  the  nonconcurrence  of  the  church  in  the  choice  of 
the  minister,  and  in  the  invitation  of  the  ordaining  council, 
in  no  degree  impaired  the  constitutional  right  of  the  parish 
to  choose  the  minister. 

That  the  council  ordained  Mr.  Lamson  over  the  parish 
only,  but  by  virtue  of  that  act,  founded  upon  the  choice  of 
the  people,  he  became  not  only  the  minister  of  the  parish, 
but  of  the  church  still  remaining  there,   notwithstanding K 
the  secession  of  a  majority  of  the  members. 

That  Mr.  Lamson  thus  became  the  minister  of  the  first 
parish  in  Dedham,  and  of  the  church  subsisting  therein,  and 
he  had  a  right  to  call  church  meetings,  and  do  all  other 
acts  pertaining  to  a  settled  and  ordained  minister  of  the 
gospel. 


APPENDIX.  279 

That  the  church  had  a  right  to  choose  deacons,  and  no 
legal  objection  is  found  to  exist  against  their  right  to  main- 
tain the  action. 


It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  opinion  in  Baker  vs. 
Fales  has  not  commended  itself  to  the  judgment  of  the 
legal  profession  in  its  positions  or  its  reasoning,  while  it  is 
entirely  at  variance  with  such  ecclesiastical  authorities  as 
are  recognized  by  the  Congregational  churches  of  this  Com- 
monwealth. Whether  the  decision  would  now  be  made,  or 
will  be  hereafter  adhered  to  as  law,  we  will  not  say.  A 
recent  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
in  the  case  of  Watson  vs.  Jones,  reported  in  the  1 2  Wallace 
Reports,  p.  679,  seems  to  establish  conclusions  inconsistent 
with  those  in  Baker  vs.  Fales. 

In  Watson  vs.  Jones  the  question  litigated  was,  which  of 
two  bodies  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  each  claiming  to  be  the  "  Third 
or  Walnut  Street  Presbyterian  Church,"  was  such  church. 
The  question  in  Baker  vs.  Fales  was,  which  of  the  two 
bodies,  each  claiming  to  be  the  "  First  Church  in  Dedham," 
was  such  church.  The  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Massachusetts  in  the  latter  case  has  been  given  in  the  fore- 
going abstracts. 

In  the  former,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
say  :  "  The  questions  which  have  come  before  the  civil 
courts  concerning  the  right  to  property  held  by  ecclesiastical 
bodies,  may,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  examine  them, 
be  profitably  classified  under  three  general  heads,  which,  of 
course,  do  not  include  cases  governed  by  considerations 
applicable  to  a  church  established  and  supported  by  law  as 
the  religion  of  the  State." 

"  The  second  is  when  the  property  is  held  by  a  religious 
congregation,  which,  by  the  nature  of  its  organization,  is 
strictly  independent  of  other  ecclesiastical  associations,  and, 


280  APPENDIX. 

so  far  as  church  government  is  concerned,  owes  no  fealty  or 
obligation  to  any  higher  authority."  —  p.  727. 

This  describes  simply  a  congregational  church. 

In  regard  to  it  the  court  use  the  following  very  sensible 
and  significant  language  :  — 

"  The  second  class  of  cases  which  we  have  described  has 
reference  to  the  case  of  a  church  of  a  strictly  congrega- 
tional or  independent  organization,  governed  solely  within 
itself,  either  by  a  majority  of  its  members,  or  by  such  other 
local  organism  as  it  may  have  instituted  for  the  purpose 
of  ecclesiastical  government ;  and  to  property  held  by  such 
a  church,  either  by  way  of  purchase  or  donation,  with  no 
other  specific  trust  attached  to  it  in  the  hands  of  the  church 
than  that  it  is  for  the  use  of  that  congregation  as  a  religious 
society. 

"  In  such  cases,  where  there  is  a  schism  which  leads  to  a 
separation  into  distinct  and  conflicting  bodies,  the  rights  of 
such  bodies  to  the  use  of  the  property  must  be  determined 
by  the  ordinary  principles  which  govern  voluntary  associa- 
tions. If  the  principle  of  government  in  such  cases  is  that 
the  majority  rules,  then  the  numerical  majority  of  members 
must  control  the  right  to  the  use  of  the  property.  If  there 
be  within  the  congregation  officers  in  whom  are  vested  the 
powers  of  such  control,  then  those  who  adhere  to  the  ac- 
knowledged organism  by  which  the  body  is  governed,  are 
entitled  to  the  use  of  the  property.  The  minority,  in 
choosing  to  separate  themselves  into  a  distinct  body,  and 
refusing  to  recognize  the  authority  of  the  governing  body, 
can  claim  no  rights  in  the  property  from  the  fact  that  they 
had  once  been  members  of  the  church  or  congregation. 
This  ruling  admits  of  no  inquiry  into  the  existing  religious 
opinions  of  those  who  comprise  the  legal  or  regular  organ- 
ization ;  for  if  such  was  permitted,  a  very  small  minority, 
without  any  officers  of  the  church  among  them,  might  be 
found  to  be  the  only  faithful  supporters  of  the  religious 


APPENDIX.  281 

dogmas  of  the  founders  of  the  church.  There  being  no 
such  trust  imposed  upon  the  property  when  purchased  or 
given,  the  court  will  not  imply  one  for  the  purpose  of  expel- 
ling from  its  use  those  who  by  regular  succession  and  order 
constitute  the  church,  because  they  may  have  changed  in 
some  respect  their  views  of  religious  truth. 

"  Of  the  cases  in  which  this  doctrine  is  applied,  no  better 
representative  can  be  found  than  that  of  Shannon  vs.  Frost, 
3  B.  Monro,  253,  where  the  principle  is  ably  supported  by 
the  learned  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  Ken- 
tucky. 

"The  case  of  Smith  vs.  Nelson,  18  Vermont,  511,  asserts 
this  doctrine  in  a  case  where  a  legacy  was  left  to  the  Asso- 
ciate Congregation  of  Ryegate,  the  interest  whereof  was  to 
be  annually  paid  to  their  minister  forever.  In  that  case, 
though  the  Ryegate  congregation  was  one  of  a  number  of 
Presbyterian  churches  connected  with  the  general  Presby- 
terian body  at  large,  the  court  held  that  the  only  inquiry 
was  whether  the  society  still  exists,  and  whether  they  have 
a  minister  chosen  and  appointed  by  the  majority,  and  regu- 
larly ordained  over  the  society,  agreeably  to  the  usage  of 
that  denomination.  And  though  we  may  be  of  opinion 
that  the  doctrine  of  that  case  needs  modification,  so  far  as  it 
discusses  the  relation  of  the  Ryegate  congregation  to  the 
other  judicatories  of  the  body  to  which  it  belongs,  it  cer- 
tainly lays  down  the  principle  correctly,  if  that  congregation 
was  to  be  treated  as  an  independent  one." 

This  decision,  or  rather  its  reasoning,  restores  to  the  Con- 
gregational church  that  independence  and  autonomy  which 
are  its  characteristics,  and  which  the  decision  in  Baker  vs. 
Fales  entirely  destroyed. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  which  of  these  decisions  is  most 
in  harmony  with  the  universally  recognized  nature  and 
character  of  Congregational  churches,  and  the  better  expo- 
nent of  the  views  and  theory  of  their  supporters. 


282  APPENDIX. 

The  decision  in  Baker  vs.  Fales  allows  a  church,  whose 
fundamental  and  distinctive  principle  is  independency  of  all 
external  control,  no  existence  independent  of  the  control  of 
another  and  distinct  body,  to  wit,  the  society,  or  parish, 
of  which  no  one  of  its  members  is  necessarily  a  mem- 
ber. An  independent  Congregational  church  that  has  not 
within  itself  the  power  to  determine,  by  its  own  vote, 
its  own  identity  and  continuance,  or  which  by  any  sys- 
tem, justly  construed,  is  so  connected  with  another  dis- 
tinct body  as  to  be  incapable  by  independent  action  of 
preserving  its  own  identity  and  purity,  is  an  anomaly. 
Such  is  the  only  Congregational  church  under  the  reason- 
ing in  Baker  vs.  Fales.  Such  is  not  the  Congregational 
church  lander  the  reasoning  of  the  later  case  of  Watson  vs. 
Jones,  or  in  the  general  understanding,  determination,  or 
usages  of  the  Congregational  churches  of  Massachusetts 
for  two  centuries.  And  such  it  is  not,  we  think,  will  be  the 
decision  whenever  a  case  presenting  the  point  shall  come  up 
for  adjudication  in  the  Federal  courts,  or  those  of  any  State 
in  which  the  case  of  Baker  vs.  Fales  is  not  a  binding  authority. 

In  view  of  the  reasoning  in  Watson  vs.  Jones,  and  other 
cases,  it  is  not,  perhaps,  too  much  to  hope  that  the  courts 
of  Massachusetts  may  consider  the  whole  subject  open  for 
revision  and  reconsideration. 


A  few  words  in  addition  to  the  statements  of  law. 

The  decision  of  the  United  States  Court  in  the  case 
of  Watson  vs.  Jones  establishes  the  legal  completeness  of 
a  Congregational  church,  independent  of  all  connections. 
Congregationalism  recognizes  no  ecclesiastical  authority 
higher  than  the  church  itself.  It  is  supreme  in  its  own 
affairs.  Upon  this  ground  the  First  Church  in  Cambridge 
separated  from  the  parish  with  which,  for  certain  purposes, 


APPENDIX.  283 

it  had  been  connected,  and  with  its  minister  established 
worship  in  another  house.  This  action  it  was  competent  to 
take,  and  it  remained  the  same  church  it  had  been  since 
1636. 

Congregationalism  has  a  system  of  advisory  councils. 
Their  decisions  are  recognized  in  the  courts.  In  Cambridge, 
after  the  church  had  sundered  its  connection  with  the 
parish,  an  Ecclesiastical  Council  was  duly  called  by  the 
church.  This  Council  confirmed  the  action  of  the  church, 
and  encouraged  it  in  maintaining  divine  worship  and  the 
celebration  of  the  ordinances  of  religion. 

The  bearing  of  the  decision  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  upon  our  own  church  case  is  clear.  The 
highest  ecclesiastical  tribunals  recognized  among  Congre- 
gational churches  decided  the  position  and  rights  of  the 
church.  And  this  decision  is  pronounced  binding  in  law. 
The  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts  substantially  affirmed 
the  same  judgment,  saving  only  in  the  matter  of  holding 
property.    This  exception  is  not  made  in  the  national  court. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  further,  what  was  the  intent  of  the 
donors  of  the  funds  which  were  taken  from  this  church.  The 
church  fund  was  begun  by  a  gift  of  £50  by  a  member  of 
the  church,  and  increased  to  more  than  $  4,000  by  the  con- 
tributions of  the  church  at  the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  desire  and  purpose  of  the  donors  no  one  can  doubt. 
If  the  funds  were  held  by  the  church  simply  as  a  trustee 
for  the  benefit  of  the  parish,  even  the  majority  of  the 
church,  worshipping  wherever  it  might  be,  would  be  prac- 
tically as  competent  to  administer  the  trust  as  the  minority 
of  the  church  remaining  in  the  old  meeting-house.  If  any 
doubt  were  possible  concerning  the  money,  the  design  and 
expectation  of  those  who  gave  the  Communion  and  Baptis- 
mal Service  are  entirely  plain. 

The  church  was  established  for  other  purposes  than  to  be 
the  trustee  of  property.     And  these  purposes  have  never 


284  APPENDIX. 

been  changed.  Those  who  have  persistently  adhered  to 
them  surely  have  the  right  to  declare  themselves,  in  all  re- 
spects, the  successors  of  those  who  founded  the  church. 
The  church  has  never  lost  or  impaired  its  identity. 

The  original  constitution  of  the  church  has  not  been 
amended.  The  same  ends  are  sought  by  the  same  means. 
There  is  a  continuity  of  principles  which  should  have  weight 
in  deciding  the  questions  upon  which  the  church  and  council 
and  the  courts  have  given  their  judgment.  The  views  ad- 
vanced in  Lecture  VII.  seem  to  be  abundantly  sustained, 
both  on  moral  and  legal  grounds. 

The  "  New  York  Evening  Post,"  in  commenting  upon  the 
decision  in  the  United  States  Court,  uses  the  following  lan- 
guage :  "  This  decision  is  henceforth  established  law  in 
the  United  States.  Had  it  been  made  a  generation  ago,  the 
result  of  a  large  number  of  the  disputes  on  church  property, 
which  have  been  settled  by  arbitration  or  otherwise,  would 
have  been  different.  But  it  is  likely  to  be  strictly  adhered 
to  hereafter  by  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical  tribunals.  It  is 
important  to  have  a  general  rule  on  the  subject,  and  yet  any 
rule  will,  of  course,  seem  to  work  hardship  in  some  cases. 
The  present  decision  is  that  to  which  the  courts  of  this 
country  have  steadily  tended,  and  probably  could  not  have 
been  different  without  making  confusion." 


INDEX. 


Adams,  John  Quincy,  71. 
Adams,  Nehemiah,  Jr.,  invited  to 
become  the  colleague  of  Dr. 
Holmes,  218;  his  ordination, 220; 
names  of  the  CoudciI,  220;  divis- 
ion of  Sabbath  services  between 
the  two  pastors,  222 ;  becomes  pas- 
tor of  the  Essex  Street  Church  and 
Society  in  Boston,  224;  remarks 
on  Dr.  Albro,  231,  235;  prayer  of 
dedication,  253. 
Albro,  John  Adams,  early  life,  226; 
settles  in  Chelmsford  and  Fitch- 
burg,  227 ;  installed  as  pastor,  228 ; 
visits  Europe,  229 ;  twenty-fifth  an- 
niversary of  his  installation,  229  - 
233  ;  instruction  in  the  Greek 
Testament,  234  ;  consecration  of 
cemetery,  234;  publishes  a  "Life 
of  Thomas  Shepard "  and  other 
works.  235  ;  his  connection  with 
the  Mass.  Sabbath  School  So- 
ciety and  with  the  School  Com- 
mittee, 234,  235;  receives  the  de- 
gree of  D.  D.  from  Bowdoin  and 
Harvard  Colleges,  236;  his  charac- 
ter and  preaching,  237-239;  his 
salary,  239;  his  resignation,  239; 
changes  in  the  meeting-house  and 
in  the  membership  of  the  church 
during  his  ministry,  239 ;  his  fare- 
well sermon,  240;  services  ren- 
dered the  church  and  society  after 
his  dismission,  240,  241 ;  his  death, 
243;  his  funeral,  243. 

Allen,  Rev.  Mr.,  publishes  a  book 
with  Thomas  Shepard,  64. 

Allston,  Washington,  223,  238. 

Ames,  William,  89, 121. 

Anabaptists,  103. 

Antinomians,  53. 

Appleton,  Nathaniel,  his  ancestry, 
145;  his  ordination,  — additional 
town  tax  to  defray  the  expenses 
of, —  is  elected  a  Fellow  of  the 
Co^ege, —  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 


Divinity  conferred  upon  him,  146; 
baptisms  and  admissions  to  the 
church  during  his  ministry,  147 ; 
measures  adopted  "  to  reform  the 
growingdisorders,"149;  the  church 
lands,  150;  the  choice  of  a  col- 
league pastor,  156;  his  death,  157; 
his  character,  157;  his  legacies, 
158;  his  publications,  158;  anec- 
dote of,  159;  his  children,  159. 
Autobiography  of  Thomas  Shepard, 

12,  208. 
Baker  and  another  vs.  Fales,  203,  272. 
Baptism  of  children,  38,78,236;  con- 
troversy with  Henry  Dunster,  102- 
110. 
Bates,  Charlotte  F.,  hymn  by,  254. 
Bay  Psalm  Book,  43. 
Belcher,  Captain  Andrew,  143. 
Boradel.  Margaret,  70. 
Boston  Confession,  33,  267. 
Brattle,  William,  graduates  at  Har- 
vard in  1680, —  is  chosen  tutor,  — 
his  fidelity  to  the  students,  —  re- 
ceives the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Di- 
vinity, conferred  for  the  first  time, 
—  Fellow  of  the  Corporation  and 
Treasurer  of  the  College,  134;  ser- 
vices at  his  ordination,   135;   his 
salary,  138;  donations,  139;  garden- 
ing and  weather  record,  139,  140; 
additions  to  the  church,  140;  his 
charity  and  humility,  141;  his  be- 
quest to  the  church,  142 ;  Dr.  Col- 
man's  testimony  concerning  him, 
142;  items  from  the  town  records 
during  his  ministry,  143 ;  expenses 
of  his  funeral    defrayed    by    the 
town,  144. 
Brighton,  church  in,  161. 
Brock,  Rev.  John,  89. 
Building     Committee     of    present 

church,  report  of,  255. 
Burials,  manner  of,  in  1641,  40. 
Cambridge,  the  name,60 ;  first  church 
in,  21,  24;  noted  men,  28;  schools, 


286 


INDEX. 


41 ;  character  of  founders,  44 ;  con- 
dition in  1647, 113 ;  in  1792, 173 ;  in 
1835,  228;  church  in  Cambridge 
village,  114 ;  Cambridge  Farms,  pe- 
tition to  be  set  off,  132 ;  church  in 
northwest  precinct,  152 ;  church  on 
south  side  of  the  river,  161 ;  action 
at  the  Revolution,  153,  163. 

Cambridge  Farms,  set  off,  132. 

Cambridge  Platform,  32. 

Cambridgeport,  church  in,  185; 
First  Evangelical  Church  in,  188. 

Cambridge  village,  new  church  or- 
ganized in,  114. 

Champney,  Richard,  29,  265. 

Charlestown,  Covenant  of  First 
Church  in,  32. 

Chaivncy,  President,  109,  116,  119, 
123. 

Children,  church  -  membership  of, 
78,  236. 

Church  discipline,  38,  147,  178; 
church  plate,  178,  206,  208. 

Clark,  Jonas,  129,  131,  265. 

College  church,  formation  of,  181  - 
184. 

Collins,  Edward,  30,  265. 

Confessions,  Shepard's  book  of,  28. 

Congregational  church.    What,  31. 

Committee  to  inspect  manners  of 
Christians,  149. 

Confession  of  Faith  and  Form  of  Ad- 
mission to  the  Communion  of  the 
Church,  1872,  267. 

Contributions,  taken  every  Sabbath 
afternoon,  38 ;  mode  of  collecting, 
39;  different  objects  of,  130;  by 
scholars,  130. 

Corlet,  Elijah,  30,  41,  45,  61,  115. 

Cotton,  Rev.  John,  8,  10,  11,  18,  26, 
27,  28,  52,  54,  57,  92,  95. 

Covenant  assented  to  by  those  who 
desired  baptism  for  themselves, 
136;  by  certain  persons  in  order 
to  their  children's  being  baptized, 
137;  Covenant,  Half-way,  111,  112. 

Daggett,  Oliver  E.,  225. 

Dana,  Miss  Sarah  Ann,  gift  of  land, 
201. 

Danforth,  Thomas,  30. 

Darlev,  Sir  Richard,  16,  51. 

Day,  Matthew,  29. 

Day,  Stephen,  42. 

Deacons,  35,  265. 

Decisions  of  Supreme  Court  of  Mas- 
sachusetts and  United  States,  203, 
271. 

Dedication  of  present  church,  252. 

Dignifying  the  meeting-house,  37. 


Discipline,  38,  147,  178. 

Downing.  George,  118. 

Dudley,  Deputy-Governor,  6,  26. 

Dunster,  Henry,  30,  43,  45,  61,  102- 
110. 

Dunton,  John,  29. 

Eaton,  Nathaniel,  29,  60,  61. 

Ecclesiastical  Synod,  first  in  Amer- 
ica, 56. 

Elders,  35. 

Elders,  ruling,  35,  264. 

Eliot,  John,  7,  43,  66,  89. 

Eliot,  John  [Jr.],  115. 

Endicott,  Governor,  4. 

Episcopal  Church,  161,  186. 

Everett,  Edward,  186. 

Families,  inspection  of,  125. 

Familists,  53. 

Farnsworth,  James  D.,  180. 

Farwell,  Stephen  T.,  181,  250,  255, 
256,  266. 

Felton,  President,  230. 

First  Church  in  Cambridge,  organ- 
ized, 21,  24  ;  Covenant  and  Creed, 
32  ;  officers,  35;  members  in  1658, 
116,  —  in  1829, 199,  251,  —  in  1835, 
252,  — in  1872,  271;  lands,  150; 
stock  and  funds  of,  175,  205 ;  mode 
of  admission,  153,  267 ;  during  and 
after  the  Revolution,  153,  163,  164 ; 
communion,  38, 177;  plate,  178,206, 
208;  library,  179;  Sabbath  school, 
180  ;  separates  from  first  parish, 
188;  worships  in  Court  House,  198; 
Ecclesiastical  Council,  199  ;  con- 
nected with  Shepard  Congrega- 
tional Society,  200  ;  relinquishes 
property,  203  ;  meeting-houses, 
249  ;  officers  from  the  beginning, 
264;  Confession  of  Faith  and  Form 
of  Admission,  267  ;  membership, 
271. 

First  Evangelical  Congregational 
Church  organized  at  Cambridge- 
port,  188. 

First  Parish,  surrender  of  church 
property  to,  203  -  206  ;  meeting- 
house of,  202. 

Flint,  Francis,  256,  266. 

Flynt,  Tutor,  162. 

Form  for  the  ordaining  of  a  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel,  used  when  Mr. 
Brattle  was  ordained,  135. 

Form  of  admission  to  the  church 
adopted  1872,  267. 

Frost,  Gideon,  175, 176,  266. 

Fuller,  Samuel,  4. 

Fuller,  Thomas,  88. 

Funerals,  how  conducted  in  1641,  40. 


INDEX. 


287 


Goffe,  Whalley  and,  118. 

Gookin,  Daniel,  30,  66,  114,  116,  129. 

Gookin,  Mrs.  Hannah,  133,  143. 

Gookin,  Nathaniel,  invited  to  assist 
President  Oakes  in  the  minis- 
try, 128;  ordained  as  pastor,  129; 
amount  of  Sabbath  collections, — 
collections  for  the  redemption  of 
captives,  —  students'  contribution, 
130  ;  reports  of  his  sermons  by 
Joseph  Baxter  and  Benjamin  Col- 
man,  —  a  Fellow  of  the  College,  — 
his  death,  —  funeral  charges,  131. 

Grav,  Asa,  256. 

Green,  Samuel,  29,  45,  67. 

Green,  Samuel,  201. 

Half-way  Covenant,  111,  112. 

Hampden,  John,  25. 

Harlakenden,  Richard,  18. 

Harlakenden,  Roger,  14,  19,  28,  30, 
70. 

Hartford,  founded,  10. 

Harvard  College.  Founded,  59;  be- 
quest of  Harvard,  59  ;  under  N. 
Eaton,  60;  overseers,  61;  Presi- 
dent Dunster,  30,  43,  45,  61,  102; 
Chauncy,  109,  116, 119, 123;  Hoar, 
89,  116,  123;  Oakes,  89,  120,  128; 
Rogers,  89,  145  ;  Leverett,  126, 
143,  146.  Mather,  116,  133,  135, 
146;  Wadsworth,  146  ;  Langdon, 
155;  Willard,  171  ;  Quincv,  124, 
160;  Felton,  230;  in  1798,  174; 
church  in,  181. 

Harvard  Hall,  burning  of,  161. 

Harvard,  John,  59. 

Haynes,  John,  26,  28. 

Higginson,  Francis,  4,  32,  48. 

Hill,  Aaron,  175,  250,  266. 

Hilliard,  Timothy,  chosen  as  Mr. 
Appleton's  colleague,  —  installed 
as  pastor,  156  ;  character  of,  165 ; 
an  overseer  of  the  university, — 
his  publications,  extracts  from, 
166  ;  description  of  his  person, — 
his  death,  167. 

Hilliard,  William,  176,  220,  266. 

Hoar,  Leonard,  89,  116,  123. 

Holmes,  Abiel,  his  early  life,  169 ;  his 
labors  in  Georgia,  170;  is  invited 
to  become  the  successor  of  Mr. 
Hilliard,  —  his  reply,  —  his  instal- 
lation, 171;  his  first  sermon,  172; 
survey  of  the  town  at  this  time, 
173  ;  the  church  stock,  175 ;  the 
deacons  at  this  time  and  their 
successors,  175;  time  of  observing 
the  Lord's  Supper  changed,  177; 
church  discipline,  178;  church  li- 


brary established,  179;  the  sab- 
bath school,  —juvenile  library, — 
library  for  the  Shepard  Congrega- 
tional Society,  ISO;  organization 
of  the  College  Church,  181-184; 
dedication  of  a  new  meeting-house 
at  Cambridgeport,  —  a  church  or- 
ganized, 185  :  sermon  in  Episco- 
pal church,  186  ;  introduction  of 
Watts's  psalms  and  hymns,  186; 
organ  introduced,  187 ;  trouble 
with  parish,  188  ;  Unitarian  As- 
sociation formed,  189  ;  the  sep- 
aration of  the  First  Church  and 
Parish,  188-200;  Mr.  Nehemiah 
Adams  ordained  as  colleague  pas- 
tor, 201  ;  the  transfer  of  the 
church  property  to  the  parish, 
203  -  206  ;  farewell  sermon,  —  his 
death,  208;  his  ministry,  210;  his 
publications,  212;  his  offices,  212: 
his  last  sermon,  214;  his  burial, 
215;  hymn  of,  215  ;  sermons  in 
1829,  221;  his  resignation,  224  ; 
his  later  care  of  the  church,  225; 
hymn,  253. 

Homer,  Charles  W.,  deacon,  252, 
255,  266. 

Hooker,  Joanna,  70. 

Hooker,  Thomas,  his  history  before 
coming  to  New  England,  7 ;  church 
organized  in  Newtown  and  he 
chosen  pastor,  8  ;  the  meeting- 
house, 9;  removes  with  his  congre- 
gation to  Hartford,  Conn,  —  is  dis- 
tinguished as  a  preacher  and  coun- 
sellor,—  his  death,  10. 

Hosmer,  Zelotes,  230,  252. 

Hubbard,  William,  88. 

Hutchhuon,  Mrs.  Ann,  10,  52-  57, 
131. 

Hymn  sung  at  the  installation  of  Mr. 
Albro,  written  by  Dr.  Holmes,  215, 
252. 

Indians,  provision  for,  66  ;  Daniel 
Gookin  made  superintendent  of,  67. 

Indian  College,  66. 

Jackson,  John,  115. 

Jenks,  Dr.,  211,  220,  221. 

Johnson,  Edward,  87 ;  description  of 
Cambridge  in  1652,  113. 

Johnson,  Marmaduke,  29,  67. 

Lafayette,  160. 

Lands  of  the  church,  150. 

Langdon,  President,  155. 

Langhorne,  Thomas,  36. 

Laud,  Bishop,  15,  16,  20,  25. 

I  pcturc  41 . 

Leverett,'  President,  126, 143,  146. 


288 


INDEX. 


Manifesto  Church,  141. 

Manning,  William,  121. 

Marriage  among  Puritans,  39. 

Marriot,  Thomas,  27,  118,  265. 

Martin,  A.  C,  255. 

Massachusetts  Sunday  School  So- 
ciety, Dr.  Albro's  connection  with, 
235. 

Mather,  Cotton,  43,  88,  94,  102,  123, 
126,  146. 

Mather,  Increase,  116,  133,  135,  146. 

Mather,  Samuel,  89. 

McKenzie,  Alexander,  estimate  of 
Dr.  Albro's  work,  238;  invited  to 
the  pastorate  and  declines,  245  ; 
installed,  245,  253  ;  visits  Europe, 
246  ;  new  church,  246  ;  pastor, 
255,  264. 

Means,  James  H.,  sermon  on  Dr.  Al- 
bro,  244. 

Meeting-house,  first,  8,  36,  69,  249  ; 
second,  70,  114,  249  ;  gallery  in, 
125  ;  third,  143,  159,  249  ;  fourth, 
154,  160,  201,  249;  fifth,  of  parish, 
202  ;  fifth,  of  church,  201,  223,  239, 
250  ;  sixth,  21,  246,  252,  262. 

Melledge,  James  P.,  256. 

Minister,  salary  of,  39,  125,  130,  138, 
154,  220,  239  ;  donations  to,  125, 
139,  152. 

Mitchel,  Jonathan,  his  early  life,  90  ; 
his  regard  for  Shepard,  —  is  made 
a  Fellow  of  the  College,  91  ;  the 
church  in  Hartford  invites  him  to 
become  their  pastor,  —  Mr.  Shep- 
ard and  others  induce  him  to  be- 
come the  minister  of  this  church, 
—  his  ordination,  92  ;  his  regard 
for  education,  94  ;  his  preaching, 
95;  he  marries  the  widow  of  Mr. 
Shepard,  95;  his  death,  96;  epi- 
taph by  "J.  S.,"  97;  extract  from 
sketch  of  his  life  in  the  Magnalia, 
99  ;  his  views  of  doctrine,  101;  his 
trial  with  President  Dunster,  102  ; 
his  influence  in  the  synod  held  in 
Boston  in  1662,  111  ;  his  reputa- 
tion, 112;  in  influence,  116. 

Mitchel,  Mistress,  119,  123,  132. 

Mitchenson,  Ruth,  71. 

Monis,  Judah,  137,  250. 

Moore,  Josiah,  176,  266. 

Morse,  Jedediah,  171. 

Munro,  James,  175,  266. 

Munro,  James,  176,  177,  220,  266. 

Munro,  Miss  Mary,  180. 

Munroe,  Charles  'W.,  256,  266. 

Newell,  Rev.  William,  D.  D.,  116, 201, 
202,  231,  257. 


Newtown,  founded,  6  ;  church  in,  8 ; 
name  changed,  60. 

Oakes,  Urian,  born  in  England  and 
brought  to  this  country  in  his 
childhood,  120;  graduates  at  Har- 
vard College  in  1649,  —  publishes 
an  almanac  for  1650,  —  preaches 
his  first  sermon  at  Roxbury,  —  re- 
turns to  England,  —  is  invited  to 
become  pastor  here,  121 ;  after  re- 
peated delays  he  arrives,  122;  is 
ordained,  —  the  church  observes  a 
day  of  public  thanksgiving,  —  the 
minister  resides  in  the  new  parson- 
age, —  ordination  expenses,  —  he 
is  made  a  Freeman,  —  preaches  the 
annual  election  sermon  in  1673, 
123  ;  becomes  President  of  the 
College,  124  ;  Mr.  Nathaniel  Goo- 
kin  chosen  to  assist  in  pastoral 
duties,  125  ;  Mr.  Oakes's  death, 
126,  128  ;  his  elegy  on  the  death 
of  Thomas  Shepard  of  Charles- 
town,  127. 

Officers  of  the  church,  35. 

Officers  of  the  church  from  its  for- 
mation in  1636  to  1872,  264-266. 

Oliver,  Dr.  John,  143. 

Organ  introduced,  187. 

Parker,  Horatio  G.,  252,  256. 

Parker,  Joel  (Roy all  Prof.),  230,  256. 

Parsonage  erected,  120, 239,  263. 

Pastors,  35,  364. 

Pelham,  Herbert,  30. 

Peters,  Hugh,  26,  118. 

Peirce,  Benjamin,  105. 

Phillips,  Samuel,  89. 

Pierce,  William,  42. 

Pierson,  Abraham,  116. 

Plymouth,  first  church  in  New  Eng- 
land at,  3. 

Population  of  Cambridge  in  1647, 
113,  —  in  1790, 173,  -  in  1835,  228. 

Prayer  meetings,  223. 

Preston,  Dr.,  13. 

Prince,  Thomas,  1S4. 

Prophesying,  38. 

Prout,  Mr.,  122. 

Puritans,  who  they  were,  3  ;  first 
form  a  Congregational  church,  5  ; 
usages  of,  31  -  46. 

Quincy,  President,  124,  160. 

Robinson,  John,  89. 

Rogers,  John,  89. 

Rogers,  President,  145. 

Ruling  elders,  35,  264. 

Russell,  Charles  Theo.,  255,  266. 

Sabbath,  views  of  English  reformers, 
79 ;  of  Shepard,  79. 


INDEX. 


289 


Sabbath  school,  instituted,  ISO  ; 
Francis  Flint,  superintendent,  266. 

Salary  of  minister,  39,  125,  130,  138, 
154,  220,  239. 

Salem,  organization  of  church  at,  3. 

Sands,  John  L.,  256. 

Saunders,  George  S.,  deacon  and 
clerk,  255,  266. 

Saunders,  William  A.,  256,  262. 

Savage.  Habijah,  131. 

Sawver,  Miss  Mary  Ann,  180. 

Schools  in  Cambridge,  29,  30,  41,  61, 
115. 

Scrooby,  church  founded  in  the  vil- 
lage of,  —  crosses  the  seas,  and  at 
Plymouth  becomes  the  first  church 
in  New  England,  3. 

Shedd,  James  A.,  266. 

Shepard  Congregational  Society  or- 
ganized, 200. 

Shepard,  Jeremiah,  88. 

Sbepard,  Jeremy,  29. 

Shepard,  Joanna,  70. 

Shepard,  John,  20. 

Shepard,  Margaret,  18,  51,  52. 

Shepard,  Samuel,  29,  88. 

Shepard,  Samuel,  60,  68. 

Shepard, Thomas,  birth  and  early  life, 
12;  enters  Emmanuel  College,  13; 
appointed  a  lecturer  and  receives 
deacon's  orders  in  the  English 
churcb,  14  ;  is  forbidden  by  the 
Bishop  of  London  to  exercise  any 
ministerial  functions  in  his  diocese, 
15;  goes  to  Buttercranibe  16  ;  his 
marriage,  —  goes  to  Heddon,  17 ; 
sails  for  New  England,  18 ;  installed 
as  pastor  in  Cambridge,  21  ;  his 
salary,  39,  68;  death  of  his  wife,  — 
her  character,  50  ;  the  troubles 
with  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  52:  an  ec- 
clesiastical synod  held  at  the  meet- 
ing-house in  Dunster  Street,  56  ; 
connection  with  Harvard  College, 
59  ;  his  interest  in  its  prosperity, 
61  ;  discussion  with  English  breth- 
ren, 64  ;  his  doctrinal  belief,  74  ; 
his  views  on  the  church-member- 
ship of  children,  78,  —  on  the  Sab- 
bath, 79, —  on  heaven,  81;  his 
preaching,  82;  his  irfluence,  85; 
his  sons,  88 :  his  will,  71 ;  his  death, 
71. 


Shepard,  Thomas,  2d,  88,  116,  126, 

127. 
Shepard,  Thomas,  3d,  88. 
Shepard,  William,  12. 
Sherman,  John,  97. 
Singing,  how  conducted  in  1640,  42, 

—  in  1817,  186. 
Skelton,  Samuel,  4. 
Society  of  Christian  Brethren,  meet 

at  the  hou^-e  of  Dr.  Holmes,  210. 
Sparhawke,  Esther.  37. 
Sternhold  and   Hopkins's  version  of 

the  Psalms,  42,  43. 
Sticknev,  Nathaniel  N.,  256. 
Stiles,  President,  170,  212. 
Stoddard,  Solomon,  116. 
Store,  John,  129,  265. 
Stone,  Samuel,  8,  10,  15,  18,  26. 
Stoughton,  William,  116,  120. 
Stowe,  Calvin  E.,  220. 
Strafford,  25. 
Synod,  the  first   in  America,  meets 

'here,  56;  of  1648,  64. 
Taylor,  John,  122. 
Taylor,  Samuel  H.,  63. 
Tauteville,  Margaret,  51. 
Teacher,  35. 

Tenney,  Miss  Hannah,  180. 
Tithing-man,  37. 
Unitarianism,  189. 
Unitarian  Association  formed,  189. 
Vane,  Henry.  24,  26,  55,  56,  118. 
Wadsworth,  President,  146. 
Walton,  John,  175. 
Warland,  Owen,  171. 
Washington,  154,  160. 
Weld,  16,  18. 
Wendell,  Jacob,  152. 
Wendell,  Oliver,  215. 
Whalley  and  Goffe,  118. 
Whitefield,  George,  162. 
Whitman,  Ephraim  P.,  256. 
Wigglesworth,  Michael,  116. 
Willard,  President,  171. 
Willard,  Samue1,  116,  135. 
Williams,  Roger,  28. 
Willoughbv,  Francis,  97. 
Wilson,  John,  26,  55,  56. 
Winship,  Edward,  29. 
Winship,  Joanna,  29. 
Winrhrop,  John,  6,  24,  26,  55,  56. 
Wis  wall,  Elder,  115. 
Wyeth,  Benjamin  F.,  256. 


Cambridge  :  Printed  by  Welch,  Bigeiow,  and  Company. 


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